Jasper's Redemption
by IshipALLTHETHINGS
Summary: Steven has a dream of Jasper's mind and sees the pain overtaking the once-proud gem. Prompted by the dream, Steven takes a risk and reverses Jasper's corruption. Will Jasper accept her new life or be lured back into the darkness? What will she do when she faces the gem she escorted and the gem who kept her prisoner for so many months? Jasper/Peridot/Lapis. Post-corruption Jasper!
1. Prologue

Author's notes

Okay wow, I haven't touched this story in almost a year. I'm going to finish this thing, I swear. Well technically I have finished it (a rough draft) but I'm going to polish the chapters on this site. I should also include that this story was created after the ending of Season 4 episode 1 (Kindergarten Kid) and basically I'm going off script past that point. So no Blue Diamond visiting the earth, no Pumpkin, and yada yada. Just to let yall know.

* * *

Steven never knew it could be so quiet underwater. The young crystal gem just stood there, kicking up the sand and watching as the different grains rise lazily in a dusty cloud. Even though Steven knew that he was in the depths of the ocean, he could see everything around him as if he was back on land in the middle of a sunny day. There wasn't much to see down here however. Just sand and some rocks. Sometimes an angler fish or a goblin shark would swim by leisurely but they weren't that exciting once you got used to their ugly presence.

Having nothing better to do, Steven started to walk. Maybe if he walked far enough, he could reach land and find the something he wanted to find. Steven shook his head and tried to concentrate; he didn't want to find something, he needed to. And it wasn't a something, it was a someone. His fingers raked through his wild hair as he tried to recall the person's name.

No, not a person, Steven realized. She was a gem, a gem so powerful that she could control water with barely a thought. Steven felt himself grow warm as he thought of her. She was so beautiful, especially when she smiled. But how long did he last seen her smile at him with joy? Did she ever? Steven knew he saw her not that long ago but those were unpleasant memories. Memories that he couldn't even recall.

"Who are you?" Steven growled, his hands clenching at his head, feeling his claws start to scratch at his scalp. He took solace in the pain, it was better than feeling nothing. He continued to walk, still thinking about the mystery gem and how much he would like to see her again.

After a few hours of walking, Steven saw something new. New usually meant bad but his gut told Steven to go towards it. So Steven started to jog towards the new object and when he neared it, he saw that it was a boat. Already, the vessel was in the process of decay even though it was only there for a few months. How he knew how long the boat was there Steven had no idea but he continued to investigate it. He climbed up the side with ease, his claws providing necessary grips into the rotting wooden surface. Gripping the rusting rail, Steven lifted himself up and gaped at the large hole in the middle of the deck.

Steven ambled closer to the hole, testing each step before putting his entire weight on the floor lest it collapse under him. He reached the edge of the hole and kneeled down to inspect it. The planks around the hole were warped so that they pointed up which meant the damage had to have originated from the bottom of the hull. It was too clean and round for the boat to have run aground. It looked as if someone had literally punched through the entire boat, Steven finally concluded.

But who would punch a hole through a boat and for what purpose? Steven's gut told him that it was to protect someone but why would one sink a boat to protect a person on it? Perhaps the danger came from one of the passengers? Once again Steven's gut told him that he was correct. Was the danger eliminated? Who was being protected? And who was the one that punched through the boat?

Steven groaned in pain as his brain went into overdrive with all of his questions. He got up and jumped off the boat, the water allowing him to simply drift back to the sea floor. Too many questions and even if he answered each one of them, where would that get him? Still walking the ocean floor aimlessly with some gem on his mind.

He was about to start walking again, as far away from the boat as he could manage when he realized something unnerving. It was quiet, too quiet. Steven looked back at the boat and gasped in horror. There, hovering above the hole, was a monster. It stared down at him with a wicked smile that he knew all too well. He would sometimes smile like that right before a fight when he knew that his opponent was actually going to challenge him. The creature was twice the size of the boat but Steven knew that it should be bigger. It stared at him with four eyes, each one black as coal.

"Long time, no see," it croaked, revealing deadly fangs that could slice through his flesh as if he were made of butter. What made his blood chill was the voice however. It was a crude imitation of the one that Steven knew belonged to the mystery gem. What should have been light and carefree was hoarse and bloodthirsty.

It narrowed its four eyes like it had read Steven's thoughts. It landed on the boat with a thud and crushed it as if it was a house made of cards. Steven felt something in his mind snap as the cloud of debris rose from the destruction. He turned and fled as fast as he could, knowing deep down that he would never be fast enough.

He heard the monstrosity laugh behind him as it gave chase. Steven's eyes whirled about his surroundings, trying to find a rock to hide behind or a crevice to squeeze himself into. Anything to escape the abomination behind him.

"Where do you think you're going to go?" The voice changed and sounded akin to his own, only overlapped by the mystery gem's voice. It sounded angry but also desperate, like it needed Steven but didn't know how to keep him. "You can't escape me!" The creature slammed its fist into the ground, cracking it open with a deafening roar.

Steven tried to jump over the crack but the ground beneath him opened up before he could. He fell, screaming for help. He could see the monstrosity at the lip of the trench, smiling down at him with eyes as blue as the ocean. He turned around midair and could only grunt as his body slammed into the floor, his head smacking against a rock with enough force that it should have split his skull open. But instead he was just knocked out.

Steven came to in a new environment. He looked about and could only see endless space, lit up by the floor made of bright water. He glanced down and immediately started to panic, each movement creating a ripple on the floor. His body was chained with links made of water that would not allow him to move or run. The chains went into the floor seamlessly and he could just make out a greenish-blue hand holding the other side of the chain. Steven roared in desperate anger, pulling with all his might to gain control. He didn't know why he needed to gain control or even how, he just knew he had to.

"Stop fighting me!" he roared to the figure under the floor. Steven felt a yank on the chains and his body slammed against the water. His body started to fuse through the floor and in a panic, he tried to rip the chains off his body, only managing to dig his claws into his own skin. Steven yowled in pain but his cry was drowned out by a cruel laugh.

"You are so pathetic." Another yank and Steven was pulled under the floor. He covered his mouth, realizing that he could not breathe. The laughter grew as Steven was pulled even deeper into the darkness and madness. He looked down at his captor and saw Malachite staring up at him. Two of her eyes were glowing a blinding bright blue while the other two were closed. Steven tried to kick at the chains but Malachite only pulled him down even deeper until he could look only at her face. "You are my prisoner now," said Malachite in the voice of Lapis Lazuli.

He shook his head and tried once again to swim up. This time he could feel Malachite giving him slack but he didn't want to test for how long. Already his eyesight was growing weaker, blackness obscuring the edges. He was so close to the surface, just a few more strokes.

Steven's head broke the surface and he gulped in mouthfuls of air while he still could. He could feel himself being dragged back under and he lifted an orange and red arm in desperation. He scratched at the air uselessly with his claws before he was pulled under once more. He looked down and saw that Malachite was no longer pulling the chains but something far worse.

It was him but not. It was a monster. It looked like a beta kindergarten gem corruption but with his body. It snarled up at him as it yanked on his chains further down. Steven tried to get away but the creature was too strong. Soon it reached up and raked its claws into his legs. Steven screamed out in agony as blood gushed from the wounds, staining the beige mane of the monster into an ugly red. He stared at the monster as it crawled up further until it was facing him with its horrible face. It roared and Steven let out a whimper knowing that he was about to die, only to be reborn and relive everything all over again. It opened its mouth wide and Steven could see his reflection clearly in the wicked fangs.

Jasper stared at her corrupted self, waiting for the end. As the beast snapped its jaws around her torso and neck to snuff out her life, Jasper released a blood curdling scream, reaching up with the arm not in the creature's mouth towards the surface. As her body was dragged down by her own madness given form, Jasper whispered her dying plea.

"Help me."

* * *

Steven jumped out of his bed, landing on the floor harshly with Lion yowling by his side. He curled up into a protective ball as his hands grasped at his throat where the beast had sunk her fangs into his flesh. He didn't know if what was covering his skin was his sweat or his life's blood. He screamed for help and heard people rushing around him. He felt hands on his body and heard concerned voices but he couldn't make himself stop screaming. He was still Jasper as she was killed over and over again by her corrupted self.

He felt his hands being wrenched from his neck and new fingers prodding and stroking the skin, looking for any injuries. His eyes swerved from right to left but he didn't see his family, too entrapped by his vision. His throat scorched from screaming for so loud and for so long but he couldn't stop. Not when he had to save Jasper.

Steven's head jerked to the right and his cheek started to burn with a red mark in the shape of a hand beginning to form on the flesh. He finally stopped screaming and his hand reached up to cover the mark. Steven looked at the blurry figure in front of him, her hand raised to give another slap if needed. For a moment he thought it was Jasper but then his vision cleared and Garnet was staring at him without her visors, tears flowing out of her three eyes. Steven brought his hand away from his cheek and looked around him. Pearl and Amethyst were holding onto each other, both of them sobbing quietly. Steven felt a nudge on his side and turned his head to see Lion mewing like a kitten, the pink fur around his eyes wet from his tears. Finally, Steven looked back at Garnet.

"Garnet?" His throat felt like it was on fire but he didn't care. "W-what happened?"

Garnet released a shaky breath and pulled Steven into a crushing hug. The boy could feel the gem kissing his head several times and tears mingling in his hair. Two other pairs of arms wrapped themselves around Steven as Pearl and Amethyst joined the hug. All three whispered words of relief and they didn't let Steven go for several minutes.

"You wouldn't stop screaming her name," Garnet whispered. "Lion just started to roar and bang at the temple's door until we all came out and found you like this. We thought-" Steven could hear Garnet sucking in a breath she didn't need. "Just don't ever scare us like that again," Garnet finished. Steven heard whimpers of agreement from Amethyst and Pearl.

Steven pulled out of the group hug and walked backwards into Lion. Lion bent his head and licked Steven's cheek while giving a sound that strangely sounded like purring. Steven pushed away the head and stared down at his hands. He looked back up to his family who was staring at him as if they were afraid he would start screaming again. "Guys, I was her and I"

"No, no," Pearl interrupted, getting up from where she was kneeling, knowing exactly who _her_ was. She walked over to Steven and pulled him into a hug again. "You don't have to worry about Jasper. She's bubbled up in the basement. She can't escape and hurt anyone."

Steven pushed Pearl away, causing the gem to stare at him in shock. "That's the problem! I-I was in her mind!" Realization slowly dawned on the crystal gem's faces and they all looked equally horrified and relieved. "She's in so much pain and I need to save her."

"What?" Pearl asked as if she did not hear Steven or simply could not understand what he had just said.

Steven looked up at Pearl and then at the other crystal gems. He clenched his fists and stood up straight to mask the fear that was boiling inside. He knew what he had to do was insane and perhaps even suicidal. But after being in Jasper's mind, he knew he had no choice but to try. "I have to save Jasper," he said solemnly.


	2. Jasper's Rebirth

Everyone stared at the young half-gem for a long time, none of them saying a word. Steven just met their gaze and hoped that they saw why he needed to do this. He only had a taste of what Jasper was going through and already he would rather be bubbled than go through it all over again. Jasper had to deal with the cycle of darkness and death for weeks.

"Steven," Pearl began and Steven felt his confidence chip a bit. Whenever Pearl used that tone of voice it meant that she was going to sway him over with logic, or whatever logic Pearl deemed fit to use at that time. "Jasper is _corrupted._ She's in that bubble for a reason. If we let her out, she could hurt a lot of people."

"I don't think she wants to hurt anyone anymore," Steven countered. He ignored Pearl's scoff and continued. "She's trapped and scared and all she wants is for the pain to stop." Tears brimmed in Steven's eyes as he looked at the door to the temple. "Jasper is in so much pain right now and it's because of me!"

Garnet chose that opportunity to get up off the floor and walk over to Steven. She sat down at the edge of his bed and conjured her visors to hide her eyes. "Jasper is in pain because she refused the help you offered to her. It is not your fault."

"Garnet's right dude," Amethyst spoke up. "If Jasper hadn't been such a sore loser when we kicked her butt then she wouldn't be the way she is now. Thinking that it's your fault that she's a monster won't help anything."

"THEN IT'S MOM'S FAULT!" Steven screamed, his patience finally snapping. He looked at his shocked family and then pointed at Rose's portrait. "Jasper thought I was her! The gem that shattered her diamond!" The other crystal gems looked away for a moment as if they forgot what their righteous leader was capable of. "Of course she didn't accept my help!" A few tears spilled out of his eyes and he angrily wiped them away as he whispered, "She must have thought that I was going to shatter her too."

Pearl tried to pull Steven into a hug but he shoved her away. Hurt flashed on her face before she schooled her features into one of professional disinterest. "Jasper didn't accept your help before so why do you think that she'll accept it now?"

"Because I know how she feels," Steven answered evenly.

"That's enough," Garnet said as Pearl opened her mouth to counter Steven's point. Garnet stood up from the bed and looked at Rose's portrait and then at Steven. "Do you truly want to try this Steven?" Steven nodded without hesitation. Garnet looked at Pearl, "I think we should let him try. For his sake."

Pearl looked at Amethyst for support but the purple gem just shrugged. "If he wants to try then let him. If Jasper gets too rowdy I'll just poof her again," Amethyst said, morphing into Purple Puma and smashing her fist into her palm for effect.

Pearl just sighed and glanced at Lion. The pink lion yawned and licked Steven's cheek. "You too, huh?" Pearl squeezed the bridge of her nose. "Fine, let's release the gem that caused all of us trouble for so many months. Just let me warn Lapis and Peridot and deactivate the warp pad in case Jasper breaks out."

"That's the spirit!" Amethyst said, still in her Purple Puma form. She pumped her fist in the air and chanted, "Do it, do it, do it!"

* * *

An hour later, all four of the Crystal Gems and even Lion walked over to the door that led to the temple. Garnet laid her hands flat against the door and it opened to the heart of the temple. They all went inside and looked at the different bubbled gems that they had collected on their journeys. Steven rushed over to one of the amethyst's bubbles that held Jasper's gem. He jumped up and grabbed it, floating back down gently. He inspected the gem, wondering if there was any part of Jasper in there or if the beast from his nightterrors had destroyed any semblance of her.

Steven took a deep breath and popped the bubble. The gem fell to the ground with a soft tink but neither Jasper or her corrupted-self leapt out. The Crystal Gems surrounded the gem and waited. Jasper's gem just laid there for several seconds without any sign of either forms of Jasper forming.

"Maybe she's still regenerating from that beating we gave her?" Amethyst suggested, trying to liven the mood but everyone could hear the concern in her voice.

Garnet bent down and poked the gem but it still did nothing. She looked up at Steven, "Perhaps she just isn't ready."

"No, she is," Steven argued, picking up the gem that belonged to Jasper. "She wanted to leave that place and find" Steven trailed off.

"Find who?" Pearl asked, taking a step forward.

"I don't know," Steven lied. He knew that Jasper wanted to find Lapis but he didn't want to tell the others. They would think that Jasper wanted to form Malachite again but Steven knew better. Despite what Jasper said on his father's boat, the quartz gem was absolutely terrified of that fusion. She just wanted to find Lapis, just so she can see her again. Steven looked down at the gem and an idea bloomed in his head. "I know what to do but you guys have to cover your ears." When none of the gems did as he requested, Steven pouted and turned around. He held the gem to his mouth and he whispered low so that the others wouldn't hear. "You have to come out Jasper, if you don't you'll always be trapped inside of Malachite." The gem grew warm and Steven hurried to continue. "I know you want to see Lapis and if you come out, you'll get to again."

The gem twitch in his hand at the sound of Lapis's name. Soon it grew too hot and Steven dropped it with a pained yelp. The gem continued to twitch as it hit the ground.

"Remember everyone, if Jasper loses control we push her into the vat!" Pearl said, conjuring her spear. The other Crystal Gems except Steven nodded in agreement. Steven conjured his shield on instinct but knew that it was more to make the other gems feel better than for his actual safety.

A bright light exploded out of the gem, blinding everyone. The gem rose into the air and Lion hissed at the form taking shape. Steven rested a hand on the pink fur and watched as the blob seemed to struggle to choose a form. It went from Jasper to the corrupted creature again and then back to Jasper.

"She's actually fighting it," Pearl said in wonder.

The blob halted at a form between the two before it rapidly reverting back to the corrupted gem's. Steven lowered his eyes as corrupted Jasper began to form, not wanting to witness the proud warrior's defeat at her own hands.

A thud echoed throughout the temple when the creature that used to be Jasper landed on the floor. It got up on its legs shakily and swerved its head back and forth as if it was unsure of what to do. It sniffed at the air and ignoring the shocked gems, started to pace around the room. Steven lowered his shield and took a step forward towards the creature. It lifted its head in the direction of the young crystal gem for a moment before growling low in its throat. Steven could see the other Crystal Gems advancing from the corner of his eye and he held up a hand.

"Don't!" Steven said. "I need Jasper to trust me and feel safe." His attention was brought back to the creature. It backed up a few steps, still growling continuously. Steven took another step forward and the creature took a few more steps back, snarling when its back bumped into a wall. It raised a forepaw and Steven could clearly see the claws that once raked against his legs in his nightmare. He gulped and held up a hand, wishing that his entire body would stop shaking. "It's okay Jasper, I swear."

The creature snarled at the name, bringing down its paw and slamming it into the floor. Cracks grew from where the paw hit the ground and Steven took a deep breath before taking another step. The creature raised its hackles and hissed at Steven.

"I won't hurt you, I'm not like my mom," Steven said softly. He noticed that the rest of the Crystal Gems lowered their own weapons and that tears were falling from Pearl's eyes. The hissing stopped but the creature did not relax its stance. "I know why you hate her so much, she took something precious from you. She took away your diamond." Steven dropped his hand and made his shield go away. The creature reared its head as if it could not believe that the human boy vanished his only weapon. "I am _not her._ I want to help you." Steven took the last few steps and looked straight up at the creature.

The corrupted gem could easily shatter him, Steven knew, but he wasn't afraid. He couldn't be. The creature lowered its head and sniffed at Steven. Steven slowly raised his hand and licked it. "Please let me help you Jasper," he said, holding his hand out.

The two stayed in that stance for a full minute, the creature not moving an inch. Steven could tell that Jasper was grappling with the corrupted gem inside herself and he could only hope that she won. The corrupted gem gave out a strange noise that was between a whistle and a whine. It started to tremble and growl loudly.

"Steven get back!" Pearl yelled out.

"No! I can do this!" Steven held out his hand to the corrupted gem. "Jasper, please! You have to beat this thing!"

The creature roared and its forepaws scratched at the floor. It slammed its own head against the wall, creating a crater in the surface. Another high pitch whistle escaped the creature as it slumped against the floor. Slowly, it raised its head and stared at Steven somehow, like it could sense him. Steven took it as a cue and took a tiny step forward, his hand now an inch from the corrupted gem's nose. The creature hesitated before it pushed its face into Steven's palm.

Immediately, the corrupted gem reared back on its hind paws, throwing Steven to the other side of the room in the process. Garnet jumped up and caught Steven before he slammed into the wall.

"You all right?" Garnet asked, her eyes not moving away from the yowling corrupted gem curling into a ball and uncurling several times.

"Yeah, I think so," Steven said, gripping at his right arm. The corrupted gem had slashed at him when it reared back. He looked down and saw the blood pool through the gaps of his fingers.

Pearl and Amethyst rushed over to inspect the wound. "Oh no, oh no," Pearl whispered, moving Steven's hand away to look at the injury. She covered it up with her own hand and looked over at Amethyst. "Go get the medical supplies," she ordered. Amethyst looked back at the shrieking corrupted gem with a deep frown. "Now Amethyst," Pearl yelled.

Pearl's yell snapped Amethyst out of her stupor and she ran up the steps to go find the medical supplies, Lion following close behind. Garnet looked at Pearl who nodded. Garnet let go of Steven and summoned her two weapons. She walked over to the thrashing corrupted gem and rolled it onto its back with her foot.

Steven saw what Garnet was about to do and yelled out, "DON'T!"

Garnet looked back at Steven who was watching the two in horror. "I'm sorry Steven but she's too dangerous." Garnet pushed down the corrupted gem and raised a fist, aiming at the gem. She ignored Steven's pleas and brought down her fist. Right before she was able to hit the corrupted gem, however, she halted. Garnet stared at the creature for a long time before letting go of it so it could continue to thrash and screech in pain. She walked back calmly and covered Pearl's hand with her own, helping to stem the flow of blood from Steven. "I couldn't do it," was all she said.

Steven sighed in relief when he noticed that the corrupted gem's body started to glow again. It deformed into a messy blob, once again struggling between becoming Jasper or the corrupted gem. It would start to form Jasper but then deform again and start to form the corrupted gem. The blob smacked together and the gems heard the high pitch whistle again, only this time is sounded more like a scream. Pearl raised a hand to her mouth while Garnet covered Steven's ears as the screaming became more distinct.

The blob rose up to the ceiling in jerky-like movements before it slammed itself back to the floor. It finally seemed to settle on a form and the figure started to develop. Steven watched as the blob started to form Jasper and he was about to yell out in excitement when the sound of a gem shattering reached his ears. The entire room became quiet, the Crystal Gems barely breathing as the figure fully formed. It tried to get up on its feet but slumped down a moment later with a pained groan.

"J-Jasper?" Steven asked, struggling to get out of Pearl's grip. He looked up to tell the gem that he wanted to go and see if Jasper was all right when he saw the look on Pearl's face. It was mixed between horror and amazement. He looked back to Jasper and saw that she had managed to get up on her feet.

"L-Lapis?" Jasper asked, her voice rougher and deeper than Steven remembered. She looked around the room, not realizing where she was. Jasper stumbled a few steps forward before falling back onto her knees.

Steven gasped and finally broke free from Pearl's grip. He ran over to the quartz gem and touched her shoulder without a hint of fear. "Jasper?"

Jasper's body jerked at the mention of her name and she looked up in shock. "Y-you," she stammered, "you were, you were _there."_ A look of pure terror covered Jasper's face and Steven quickly tightened his grip on her shoulder to get her attention.

"It's okay Jasper, you're back."

"I got the medical shit!" Amethyst hollered. Not even Pearl bothered to chastise Amethyst's use of language. She and Lion ran down the stairs and skidded to a stop at the sight of Jasper. She dropped the medical kit as she stared at the once corrupted gem. Amethyst pointed at Jasper. "Horny Jasper," she whispered.

Jasper's face showed her confusion and she heard Steven gasp. She looked at him and noticed that he had stars in his eyes as he stared at her. He jumped up and down in excitement, forgetting about his wound and gasping in pain as he reopened it. He grasped at it with a grimace but he still stared up at Jasper. Jasper raised a hand but at the last moment she brought it close to her face. Her fingernails had elongated to deadly claws but it was the coloration of her skin that caught her attention. She still had her stripes on her biceps but she now had turquoise dots littering her arm where her spikes had come out during her corrupted form. Jasper's breathing increased as her hands dashed to the top of her head to grip her hair. She felt something hard on either side of her head and for a moment she thought that she had unconsciously summoned her weapon but she disregarded that notion when her hand felt her hair in between the objects. Her hands trailed up and felt the objects curl around. She tensed when she realized what the objects were.

"Horns," she whispered. "I have horns."

"You have horns," Steven repeated, apparently excited by the new form of Jasper. His eyes zeroed in on Jasper's face and he gasped again. "You have a nose!"

"A nose?" Jasper crossed her eyes to see and raised a hand to touch the spot where Steven was looking at. Instead of feeling her gem, she felt a nose. She took an experimental sniff and she could smell Steven's scent and all the others. Jasper gripped at her head, accidentally raking her claws against her horns and creating a sound that made her flinch. "Where the fuck is my gem?"

"Language!" Pearl said on instinct.

Jasper snarled at the gem, surprising everyone at the animalistic sound. "I don't give a flying fuck! Where is my gem!?" She patted down her body and felt something hard on her chest. She pulled at her shirt and looked down. She indeed had a gem but it wasn't like the one before. It was oval in shape and like her skin, it was striped with reddish-orange and orange with turquoise dots here and there.

"Wha-" Jasper shook her head and looked around again, trying to figure out what was happening and where she was. Her eyes took in all the bubbled corrupted gems and then at Steven. She bared her fangs at him and hissed at Steven, finally realizing who was in the same room as her. Jasper got up on shaky feet and backed away. Soft clicking sounds echoed through the room and Jasper glanced down, seeing that she now had claws on her feet as well and no longer wore shoes. She looked back at the Crystal Gems and sneered at them. "What are you going to do with all these corrupted gems? Try and build your own army?"

Pearl scoffed and grabbed the medical kit that was still on the ground. She moved to Steven now that Jasper was away and started to bandage his wound. "Only you would do something so despicable."

"We are keeping them safe from you," Garnet said.

Jasper growled at the answer, unable to keep her fangs from being bared. Lion tilted his head at the quartz gem and got up from his haunches. It padded over to Jasper and rubbed its head under Jasper's chin, making his strange purr as if the two were the closest friends. Jasper shoved Lion away with a snarl but the creature came back, rubbing his head against Jasper's side while continuing to purr.

"Aw, he likes you," Steven said. Now that his arm was bandaged, he acted like Jasper had never wounded him in the first place. He got up and started to move towards Jasper who hissed at him while shoving Lion away again. "How do you feel?"

"Annoyed," Jasper answered. Lion again tried to rub his head against her but the quartz gem hissed and bared her fangs at him. Lion sat down and stared up at Jasper for a moment before slinking away, apparently hurt from Jasper's actions.

"Don't be mean to Lion," Steven chastised Jasper.

Jasper just hissed at him too.

"Stop hissing Jasper," Garnet said, allowing her weapons to dissolve into nothingness. "Steven saved your life and you should thank him."

Jasper shook her head and straightened her back. "I won't," she growled. She stomped out of the room and banged at the door. "Let me out!" she snarled.

Steven jumped up and rushed over to Jasper, placing a hand on the door. It immediately opened up and Jasper looked down at him, confused. "You said you wanted to get out," he said. "I would want some peace and quiet too if I was you," he said with a grin.

Jasper seemed hesitant to do anything, staring down at the boy who was grinning widely up at her. She scoffed and left the room without another word, Lion bounding after her. The group heard Jasper yell at the pink animal to stop following her around.

"At least she's not trying to shatter anyone," Amethyst said, still unable to believe what just happened.

Steven simply walked back down with a broad smile. He looked at Pearl who was busy staring at the still open door with a slack jaw. "I told you I could help her."

"S-she, yo-you," Pearl stammered before gripping her head, her eyes wide, "HOW!?"

Garnet just smiled at Steven and put her hands together, "I knew you could do it."

Amethyst looked at them and then the door. Soon, Pearl became a stuttering mess with Steven looking smug and Garnet not doing anything but grinning. The purple gem sighed and slipped out of the room before any of them could notice. She went into the beach house and saw Jasper punching the warp pad with one hand and keeping Lion at arm's length away with the other.

"Fucking work damnit!" Jasper roared.

"Punching it won't make it start," Amethyst said, going over and sitting on a stool. She watched Jasper continue to struggle to start the warp pad with no success. "You do realize that we had Peridot deactivate it before we set you out. We aren't that stupid."

"Fuck off," Jasper growled. Her punches were becoming weaker and her vision began to blur. She shook her head and punched the warp pad again with a snarl. Lion was able to swat her arm away but he didn't try to rub his head against her. Instead, Lion started to mew and paw at Jasper's arm.

"Hey, are you okay?" Amethyst asked. She noticed that Jasper's breathing getting heavier and sweat started to bead on her forehead and face. She pushed herself off her seat and walked over to the quartz gem. As she neared, she saw that Jasper had started to tremble and was no longer trying to start the warp pad. Amethyst was about to rest a hand on Jasper's shoulder but the quartz gem slapped it away.

"I was sent here as an escort," Jasper said, a hand burying into her hair. Her eyes were wild and unseeing. "I was to help Peridot restart the Kindergarten and destroy the earth. I-I wanted the earth to be destroyed, I wanted to shatter you all!" Jasper screamed, her fist slamming down on the warp pad. "And yet, you Crystal Gems, you brought me back from that hell." Jasper turned her head to look at Amethyst. "Why?" The question was so desperate and uncertain.

"Because it would be what Rose wanted," Amethyst said with a tired sigh. She sat down next to Jasper. "Rose believed that everyone deserved a second chance and that each gem could be who they want." Amethyst shrugged and played with a lock of her hair. "I guess Steven just inherited all that."

Strangely, Jasper started to laugh, falling down her back and her hand covering her eyes. "You got to be fucking kidding. I spent my _entire_ life serving the diamonds, first Pink and then Yellow. And yet it is the rebels that save my ass." Another sarcastic chuckle escaped Jasper. "Fate is a fucking cunt."

"Yeah she is," Amethyst agreed. "You tried to shatter us all at one point or another, some of us several times." Jasper removed her hand and turned her head to look at Amethyst, one of her horns tapping against the warp pad. "You tried your hardest to destroy this planet and everyone I love. You forced Lapis into a sick, twisted version of a fusion and even got corrupted trying to kill me and Steven. Yet here you are," Amethyst said bitterly, glaring down at Jasper.

"Here I am," Jasper said. She turned her head to stare at the ceiling. She felt Lion curl up next to her and she growled softly but did not waste her energy trying to push him away.

"What the fuck," Amethyst said.

"What the fuck," Jasper repeated.


	3. Old Friends

Jasper woke up screaming, her hands grasping onto anything they can hold. She could still feel the chains tightening around her neck and the teeth and claws slicing through her body. Her hands gripped at the warm and furry pillow above her as she slowly came back to reality. She struggled to breathe and felt the pillow shift its weight. She realized with the start that what she thought was a pillow was actually Lion.

Lion shifted again, lifting himself so that his mane wasn't pressing down on Jasper's face. He stared down at her with eyes that unnerved Jasper immensely. Every night she would have those damning night terrors and every morning she would wake up screaming, her voice being muffled by the pink animal laying on top of her.

Once Jasper's breathing got under control, she let go of Lion, somehow her claws seeming to not have harmed the animal. Lion yawned and rested his head on Jasper's chest, still staring at the quartz gem. He began to do his strange purr and the last bits of Jasper's night terror disappeared.

Jasper growled at the animal and shoved him off of her. Lion landed neatly on all fours from the couch that Jasper used as a bed for the past week now. She heard a loud plop and groan of pain right after. Jasper sat up and looked down, seeing Steven rubbing his head while looking at Lion. The animal yawned and padded up to Steven's bed before curling up and going back to sleep. Jasper looked back down at the human boy.

"Why were you in my bed?" Jasper growled.

Steven was unfazed by the animalistic behavior and sat up, yawning into his hand. He stood up and scratched at his backside, looking around at the living room.

"Well?" Jasper asked, annoyed that the human didn't answer her right away.

"I was sleeping on Lion and I guess he brought me here," Steven said, yawning again. "Besides I am alive so I just had to be in the living room." Steven grinned at Jasper who only shook her head with an exasperated groan.

"Not only do I have to endure the Crystal Gems' presence but also your insufferable attempts at making a joke," Jasper muttered. Figuring that sleep was now no longer an option, Jasper stretched, pushing out her legs and arms as far as they would go, her claws extending and raking into the couch's armrests.

"Hey, quit it!" Steven chastised, lightly smacking away Jasper's hands as her claws dug into the furniture. She was more like a feline than a gem now, Steven concluded. She would sleep for hours in the middle of the day and watch something without moving at all like a big cat about to pounce on prey. Steven almost laughed at the sudden thought of Jasper prowling on all fours after some mouse in a field of tall grass. Glancing at the quartz gem, he decided that perhaps his mental image wasn't all that far-fetched.

"Jasper really, we already had to replace that mirror four days ago," Pearl sighed from the kitchen. The gem put her hands on her hips and tutted disapprovingly when Jasper flipped her the bird in response. She's lucky that Steven wasn't looking, Pearl thought. She liked the quartz gem's existence less and less as she continued to sleep on their couch. But Pearl also knew that they simply couldn't throw her out of the house, lest Jasper started running amok or worse, go after Lapis Lazuli.

Jasper huffed and got up from the couch, stomping over to the kitchen. She sat down on a stool closest to the window and rested her chin on the palm of her hand, doing her best to ignore the three sets of eyes that were trained on her. She despised the Crystal Gems need to watch her every movement.

"So, how did you sleep, sis?" Amethyst asked.

Jasper grimaced at the nickname and glared at the purple gem. Just because they were both made on earth it did not mean they were related. No gems were related for crying out loud. "Fine," she grunted, "especially considering that you sent your pink fuzz ball to keep watch over me."

"You could at least look at someone when you're talking to them," Pearl said, flipping a pancake she was cooking.

Jasper looked over at Amethyst who was spinning around on her stool. She glanced back at Pearl who was now stacking some freshly cooked pancakes on a clean plate. Jasper didn't have to bother to look to know what Steven was doing; from the sounds the human was making, he was trying to get Lion off his bed. Finally, her eyes flashed to Garnet who was just standing near the fridge, staring into nothing. Jasper wasn't fooled however, she knew that the gems, except maybe Steven, were watching her every move.

Steven came back down with a grin that he flashed to everyone, including Jasper. He took the plate of pancakes from Pearl and sat down right next to Jasper. The quartz gem released a low growl, her lips curling a bit to reveal the tips of her fangs. She heard an angry humph and her eyes zoomed over to Pearl. Pearl looked at Jasper angrily and Jasper smiled at her, making sure that her fangs were on full display. The gem shook her head at Jasper, silently warning her, before turning around and starting to clean the pan she cooked the pancakes with.

Jasper glanced down at the human boy who had already worked his way through two pancakes. "Why do you have to eat?" Jasper asked. Every day she saw the boy eat at least three times at regular intervals like it was a routine. She could sense every gem tensing as if she asked Steven how he would like to die.

Steven seemed delighted that Jasper asked him a question because he put his fork down and spun around to face her. "I have to. My body needs fuel to keep me going!" He patted his stomach and stabbed a bite of pancake with his fork. He held it out to Jasper. "You wanna try some?"

Jasper made a face and shook her head, even though the aroma coming from the food was indeed enticing but she would never admit that out loud for the Crystal Gems to hear. Pearl would most likely hold it over her head for years if not until she was shattered. Pearls always felt the need to try and act like they were better than everyone else.

"I don't understand why you Crystal Gems are so obsessed with humans," Jasper said. "Humans are so inefficient. They have to eat, shit," Pearl shot Jasper a warning look, "and sleep their day away. And even then they only live a few decades, a century at most!" She pointed at Steven. "So why do you pretend to be a human, Rose Quartz?"

Steven swallowed the food in his mouth before facing Jasper again. "I'm half human so I'm not pretending when I eat, sleep, or use the bathroom." He met her eyes as he continued, "And I'm not my mom, I told you that. I'm Steven Universe." His eyes softened and he put more syrup on his pancakes. "Besides, you sleep regularly now too, Jasper."

Jasper glanced away with a huff. "I still don't get it." It was true that Jasper slept every night, something she would have never done before she was corrupted. She felt weak in this new form, always tired, and she had to rest more and more as the days go by, only managing at the most three hours until she woke up shrieking into Lion's mane due to her night terrors. Jasper never told any of the Crystal Gems about it however, fearing that they would use her weakening state against her.

Steven finished his breakfast, getting up to give the dirty plate and silverware to Pearl before coming back and sitting next to Jasper again. "Living like a human is better than being stuck in a magical bubble, corrupted forever."

Jasper sucked in a breath as her chest rumbled with the beginnings of a growl when she heard Amethyst laughing hysterically. She looked over just in time to see the purple gem fall off her stool. "You just got told, sis!" Amethyst wheezed, trying to catch her breath.

"It was a lot less aggravating in that pathetic excuse for a magical bubble," Jasper grumbled.

"We could always put you back in it," Garnet warned, fixing her visors without moving from her spot near the fridge or even turning her head to look at Jasper.

"Welp, I'm gonna take a shower now," Steven declared, hopping off the stool and heading towards the bathroom.

Jasper watched him leave, already feeling the atmosphere become colder without the human boy trying to lighten it. She sighed and once again looked out the window, wondering how a creature so puny and inexperienced best someone like her. Jasper left a scar on his arm where her claws had raked across his skin without even meaning to and now she's at rock bottom, having to play nice with the Crystal Gems. She was literally born to fight and yet a half-human and his gem rejects were able to beat her every single time. Jasper led armies against Rose Quartz's rebellion and now here she was, practically a prisoner who owes her existence to her sworn enemy. Was she really that weak now? Jasper growled at the thought, her claws aching to tear into something. Maybe she should shred the couch, it would be entertaining to see Pearl's reaction.

Steven came back in with clean clothes on after his shower. His hair was still wet as if he hurried to get out of the bathroom. He looked at Jasper for a moment before going into the living room and sitting on the floor to read. He didn't try to sit on Jasper's couch which Jasper appreciated.

"I think it's time for Jasper to meet the others," Garnet suddenly said, finally leaving her spot to stand near the counter. Jasper noticed that the Crystal Gem intentionally stood between her and Steven.

"What!?" Pearl dropped the plate she was cleaning and it smashed onto the floor.

Jasper would have taken this opportunity to rub it in the pearl's face but she was too busy staring at Garnet like she lost her two minds. The fusion really must have scrambled what was left of the sapphire's mind, Jasper thought. Or maybe the ruby was in control of thinking.

"Um," Steven spoke up from his spot on the floor, "maybe that isn't such a good idea. Peridot could trigger the corruption in Jasper because she well, you know," he trailed off, looking down away from Jasper's piercing eyes and sneer.

"Because the bitch killed me?" Jasper finished, rolling her eyes.

"Jasper, watch your mouth in front of Steven!" Pearl yelled as she put the shards of the plate into the trash can. The Crystal Gem was still grumbling as she tied the trash bag and wrote on the black surface, "Broken Glass," with a white marker.

"It's been a week since Jasper's freedom from the bubble and she hasn't caused any incidents," Garnet said. Jasper wondered why the fusion was so focused on getting her to see Peridot. She felt the need to bare her teeth and snarl when she thought of the tiny green gem. Yet another irony to rub salt into her wounds. The earth-loving technician with very little advantage over Jasper was able to kill her.

Pearl looked at Garnet and then Jasper and back to Garnet. She pointed to the painting of a dog in the living room. It may seem like just a regular painting but everyone in the house knew that it was covering up a head-sized hole. "What about that?"

"There was a spider," Jasper explained, already feeling aggravated as she recalled the memory. It was just a stupid house, why did the pearl feel the need to lecture her for hours on end about how to not destroy things and the proper way to dispose of pests. Jasper had the sneaking feeling that Pearl included Jasper in her term of pests.

"You rammed your head straight through the wall!" Pearl yelled, her hands on her hips again.

Jasper pointed at her new horns and tapped one of them for effect. "There was a spider, and I had horns. I acted on instinct," she said. She gestured to Steven who had climbed up on her couch to get a better view of the gems. "If you're so pissy about it, why don't you have the brat fix it with his healing spit?"

"It doesn't work like that," Pearl ground out from clenched teeth. "And his name is Steven." She looked at Garnet again while gesturing to Jasper. "This is exactly why this is a bad idea! She's a loose cannon and who knows what she'll do if she saw Peridot. Maybe she'll act on instinct again and ram her horns into Peridot!"

Amethyst started to laugh again, pounding the counter with her fist. "Oh man! That would be so hysterical!" the purple gem yelled. She looked up at Jasper, or rather her horns, and laughed even harder. "I wonder if Peridot would fly into the barn or into that pool! Oh sis, you definitely have to do it."

"No, she won't," Garnet said, fixing her visors again. Jasper hated when the fusion did that, it was like she knew something that nobody else did. She'll head butt Peridot if she wanted to. "It would be good for Jasper to see that she can have a life on earth, even if she doesn't become a Crystal Gem."

"I do have a life," Jasper growled. She held up her hand and allowed her claws to glisten in the sunlight while she bared her fangs. "I was born to fight and that is what I'm gonna do."

Steven left his couch and walked over to Jasper, playing with his hands in a nervous gesture. "But Jasper, you're tired of fighting." He looked up to her with eyes that told Jasper that he remembered the hellish realm within her mind.

Jasper scoffed and laughed at the words. "I'll never tire of fighting."

The boy just stared up at her with disappointed eyes, like he was hoping that she would suddenly agree with everything he said. Jasper sneered at him and turned around so she wouldn't have to face any of those aggravating gems.

"Then its settled," Garnet said. "Steven and I will take Jasper to the barn."

"Wait, shouldn't we all go?" Amethyst asked, glancing at Jasper's tense back. She didn't mistrust Jasper to the extent as Pearl but she wouldn't put it past the quartz gem to attack Steven when she thought she had a chance.

"No," Garnet said. "You two stay here. We'll be all right." Garnet fixed her visors again. None of the other Crystal Gems tried to argue against the fusion. She and Steven walked over to the door.

When the human boy realized that Jasper didn't move, he smiled at her and made a 'come on' gesture with his hand. Jasper glanced at the other two gems and groaned, slumping off her stool and stomping to the other two. Steven's smile widened and Jasper sneered at him. Steven didn't seem to mind, he just hurried down the steps and waited for the others to catch up, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet.

"Just wait until you see what Peridot did with the barn, Jasper!" Steven exclaimed, either not noticing how the name made Jasper hiss or pretending that he didn't. "It was a real fixer upper before but now that Peridot is living there, you can help her!"

"And why would I help that little traitor?" Jasper asked, looking down at her claws for any imperfections.

"Because she helped save you," Steven answered. Jasper's eyes flashed down at the boy but he met her gaze evenly.

That was another thing Jasper despised about Steven. One moment he was all cheery which aggravated her and then the next he's serious which made Jasper want to roar. But she much rather deal with that than the times where Steven acted like he knows how Jasper feels. Like he knows she's afraid.

"We're here," Garnet said, stopping.

Jasper looked at the barn with a disgusted frown. She had to concede that Steven was right about one thing: the barn really was a fixer-upper. Even though Jasper could tell that Peridot put a lot of time into the building, it still needed a lot of work. She glanced at the pool and wondered why there was a floating ring on the surface.

"Peridot, it's me, Steven!" Steven called out, both his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice.

"S-Steven, Garnet?" Peridot said in surprise. Jasper looked up at the truck that stuck half way out of the barn. Peridot didn't seem to notice Jasper because she rushed down off the bed of the truck and ran up to him, grabbing at his hand. "Steven, you got to see this. I made more meep morps, this time to represent me defeating," her eyes finally trailed over to the third person and her eyes widened in fear, "JASPER!?" Jasper could have sworn she heard something crash inside the barn but her attention was pulled back to Peridot when the green gem tried to haul Steven away from her.

"Wait, Peridot, it's okay," he said, trying to calm his friend. "Jasper's good now."

Peridot stopped pulling on Steven and looked up at Jasper. Her eyes took in the quartz gem's new form before her eyes settled on the horns. She gave a little shriek and ran back inside the barn, apparently trying to hide from Jasper.

"Peridot, come out!" Steven yelled, running over to his friend. He hauled Peridot halfway out of the barn's door but the green gem gripped at the wooden frame. "Jasper won't hurt you, I swear!"

"Liar!" Peridot cried out, pulling herself a little more into the barn before Steven gave a tug. The green gem lost her grip on the frame and the two landed in a heap. Peridot scrambled back to her feet and stared at Jasper. "She was corrupted! Parts of her are still corrupted!"

Jasper narrowed her eyes and growled at the technician's choice of words. Peridot took a step back and hid behind the barn's door, her head peeking out to watch Jasper's every move.

"Steven healed Jasper's gem and reversed the corruption," Garnet said. "Well, mostly anyway."

"Mostly!?" Peridot squeaked back. "She has horns!" Her eyes trailed down, "And claws!"

"And ears," Jasper added. She took a step forward and felt a hand on her shoulder. She glanced back at Garnet who shook her head slowly. Jasper huffed and crossed her arms. Peridot took a small step out of the barn and Jasper titled her head at her. "Did you get even more puny since I last saw you?"

Peridot's cheeks flushed as she clenched her fists. "That's because I don't have my limb enhancers, you clod!" Peridot slapped a hand on her mouth as her eyes widened a considerable amount, realizing what she just called the strongest quartz warrior. "I mean- uh, when I said clod I meant it in a- please don't hurt me!" Peridot shrieked, covering her face with her arms.

"Jasper's not going to hurt you," Steven said, pulling on Peridot's arm so that the green gem was forced to take another step away from the barn. Peridot eyes flashed between Steven and Jasper several times, still unconvinced. "She can't hurt you," Steven said, pulling Peridot a few more steps away from the barn.

"I could," Jasper corrected the human boy. Peridot gave a small meep and hid behind Steven. Jasper sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, flinching when one of her claws accidentally scratched at her scalp. "I'm not going to however."

"Y-you're not?" Peridot asked, poking her head out from Steven's side. She stared at Jasper suspiciously. "Why should I trust you?"

"Because I respect you now," Jasper said, causing Steven to gasp in excitement. She took a step forward and was pleased that Peridot didn't try to retreat back into the barn and that Garnet removed her hand from her shoulder. "You took swift action in killing me when I became corrupted."

Steven raised a hand, "Uh, we use the term 'poof' here."

Jasper rolled her eyes. "Anyway you proved yourself to be a commendable warrior and it would be a disgrace to attack you now when there is no reason to."

Peridot stared at Jasper and threw her hands up in the air. "Okay, I'm done now. This is just too weird." The green gem started to head back to the car and the television.

Jasper suddenly tensed as a breeze blew through the barn and to the gems outside. She tilted her head up and sniffed the air like a dog would when it caught an intriguing scent. Steven looked at Jasper confused for a moment before realization made his face whiten. "Jasper, wait, you don't want to do this," he pleaded, putting his hands up as if he could physically stop the quartz gem.

Jasper shook her head with a growl, her eyes now wild and her fangs bared. Garnet tried to grab her but the quartz gem leapt away before she could, landing on all fours. Jasper released a hiss at the two gems and barreled towards the barn, still on all fours. Peridot shrieked and tried to run into the barn but ended up tripping and falling on her face. She turned over in time to see Jasper leap over her like it was nothing. Jasper went inside the barn and sniffed the air again. She caught the scent she was looking for and leapt to the second floor. She landed lightly and stared at the gem who dropped the magazine she was reading.

Lapis Lazuli backed up until her back hit the wall, her eyes never straying away from Jasper. "No, no, no," Lapis whimpered. "You can't be here, you can't be here."

Jasper stalked over to the water gem until she was right in front of her. She got back up on her feet and smiled at Lapis. She reached out and brushed a lock of blue hair behind Lapis's ear with her clawed hand. Jasper shook her head as her body began to sway on her two feet.

"Lapis," she whispered, Lapis's image blurring as her body slumped forward. She heard Lapis call out her name and felt two arms wrap around her. She tried to say something to calm the water gem but her vision went completely dark.


	4. The Doctor is In

Jasper groaned as her eyes fought to open. Her head felt as if thousands of Amethysts were having a competition on who could slam herself against Jasper's brain the hardest. It was not helping that she could hear a woman humming in concentration to herself as she scribbled something on paper. Nor did it help with the slow continuous beeping of a machine close to her. Another pained groan left Jasper as she tried to lift her hand to grip at her head but she found that she couldn't. After a minute, her right eye finally peeked open and Jasper looked down at her arms, finding that they were bound to some kind of bed. She growled and started to struggle, feeling panic when she couldn't break out of the primitive restraints. Her eyes started to close again and Jasper whined in fear. She felt a calming hand rest on her arm and Jasper managed to tilt her head to look at the person touching her.

Some woman smiled reassuringly at Jasper and went back to looking at some contraption that showed numbers and lines that Jasper could not understand. Jasper tried to concentrate on the woman's image but soon it became too blurry for her to see the person clearly. "You shouldn't be up so early, perhaps more benzodiazepine is in order," Jasper heard her say.

"Is she going to be all right?"

Jasper would have growled at the voice if she could move her lips. It sounded like Pearl but she couldn't be sure at the time. Her eyes fluttered shut and she could no longer make out the words that the two in the room were making. Right as she fell back under, she heard the door open and someone sounding a lot like Steven calling her name.

* * *

"Jasper, are you coming to?" the same woman from before asked. Jasper hissed and she could hear the other person gasp in shock. "You can hiss!" she exclaimed. Jasper heard more scribbling and felt a light prod on her cheek. "Can you open your eyes?"

The quartz gem struggled for a bit but managed to open one eye a tiny bit, just enough to make her hiss again at the brightness hurting her. She slowly opened her eye wider, not letting the human see her as weak.

"Take your time, Jasper," the woman said, the hand on her arm again. Jasper tried to jerk her arm away and found that the movement was halted by the restraints. "You've been in a coma for about a week now, so your eyes aren't used to bright light."

"Coma?" Jasper hoarsely said, grimacing at how it hurt to speak. She needed something to stop the burning in her throat, but she didn't know what. Both eyes were now open but Jasper had to narrow them in order to endure the brightness of the forensic lights.

"Oh!" the woman said. "You don't know what a coma is, do you? Basically, it's when someone falls into a deep sleep for many days. It's usually caused by an injury to the head and the coma allows the patient time for his or her brain to heal."

This human sounds a lot like Pearl, Jasper thought to herself. She looked at the human and was reminded of another one, the one that fused with Steven. "Throat," Jasper rasped. She heard the human grabbing a paper cup and a scraping noise as she scooped up some ice. She held it out to Jasper's lips and Jasper opened her mouth slightly, feeling humiliated that she had to be spoon-fed. The ice cooled the burning in her throat and it gave her something to munch on. The human gave her two more scoops of the crushed ice before Jasper shook her head weakly at the third offering. The woman put the cup back on its tray.

She stared as Jasper became more responsive, something the quartz gem did not like at all. It felt as if the woman was studying her, trying to figure out what to do with Jasper. She noticed that Jasper was now glaring at her and she started to scribble something down.

Jasper looked around the room, grimacing at the different machines making strange noises. She recognized that the machine that did the beeping noise was still there. One of the walls held a whiteboard that had several numbers written on it. Once again Jasper had no idea what the numbers were for. Her eyes glanced at the window and she could just barely see out of it. She noticed that Pearl was standing there, her arms crossed and her mouth at a permanent frown. Jasper started to wonder if the Crystal Gem watched her since she went into this coma but quickly realized she didn't want to know the answer. She finally turned her head to look at the human who was now studying the same machine Jasper first saw.

The woman wrote something down on a clipboard and took a deep breath before turning on her heel so she was now facing Jasper. "Hello Jasper. My name is Dr. Maheswaranh and I am here to help you."

Jasper huffed and turned her head so she could glare at Pearl again. All these beings on this wretched planet seem to want to 'help' her now.

The doctor take an offended breath before continuing on. "As I said before, you were in a coma for a week. Unlike most coma patients who have suffered a traumatic injury to his or her head and brain, you underwent one due to starvation."

Jasper glanced at the doctor and sneered at her. "I don't know what you think you're doing but I can tell you right now that you're wrong. I'm a quartz warrior," Jasper declared, her chest rising in pride, "I don't need to drink or eat."

"Yes, you do," Dr. Maheswaranh said with an air of finality. She flipped through her papers for a moment and found the one she was looking for. She showed Jasper and pointed at the different numbers. "This is your blood sugar level when you first entered the coma, it should be around 100 milligrams per deciliter but yours was about 50 milligrams per deciliter. Most people would have died by that point."

The quartz gem still had no idea what the human was going on about. She looked away from the chart and felt a pinch when she tried to move her right arm. She glanced down and noticed something sticking into her inner elbow. The beeping noise increased in tempo as she felt the reserves of her humanity slip away as her eyes caught sight of the needle. Something snapped inside the quartz gem's mind and she could only think of one thing: run.

Jasper roared and began to struggle against the restraints again, snarling as the needle caused pain throughout her body. The beeping was at its highest, almost like a beat to a fast waltz. She felt Dr. Maheswaranh try to push her back on the bed with a syringe in one of her hands when Jasper heard the door slam open. Jasper gave a hard pull and felt her left arm get free just as Pearl joined in Dr. Maheswaranh's efforts to push her back into the bed. Ignoring the Crystal Gem, Jasper reached over and tore the needle out of her arm with a yowl of pain. Blood began to spurt out of the new wound but Jasper didn't care. The quartz gem continued to pull at the remaining restraint with everything she had.

The door slammed open again but instead of trying to help the other two sedate Jasper, Steven ran over and tried to pull Jasper's hand away from the restraint. "Stop!" he yelled, his efforts proving to be worthless as Jasper continued to tug. "They're trying to help you, Jasper!"

"Bullshit!" Jasper screamed, a hand flying out and shoving Steven away from her. Immediately, she felt something stab into her back harshly. She looked behind her in time to see Pearl glare down at her, her face hardened in a way that made Jasper gulp. It was the look of a warrior about to make a kill.

"Do that again," Pearl warned evenly. She let the spear off of Jasper's back so that she could point it at her chest, right where the quartz warrior's gem was. "and I will shatter you." She pushed the spear so that a small clink was heard throughout the room, signaling that the weapon was resting on the gem.

Jasper only stared back at the Crystal Gem, knowing that if she tried to say anything it would only make the situation worse. She leaned back into the bed slowly to get the spear off of her gem. She heard Steven get up from the floor and walk over to Pearl.

"Pearl, it's okay. I'm fine," Steven said. He lifted his shirt to show that he had no injuries from Jasper's shove. He push down his shirt and grinned at Jasper. "Thanks for not using your claws this time." He raised a hand and licked it. He went close to Jasper and glanced down purposely at the bloody inner elbow. "Can I uh-"

Jasper looked down and without saying anything, stretched out her arm to expose the wound. She shuddered in disgust as Steven placed his hand on the injury. The quartz gem watched Steven remove his hand and reveal that the hole had closed up. He smiled back at Jasper who just huffed and glanced at Pearl. The Crystal Gem simply stood there, the spear still in her hands but she held it like she forgot she had the weapon.

"Steven, go wash your hands and wait outside," Dr. Maheswaranh ordered as she pocketed the syringe, sensing she wouldn't need it now. The boy glanced between Jasper and the doctor before finally settling on Pearl.

The crystal gem looked like she was about to argue with the doctor when she happened to look at Steven's hand. The spear immediately disappeared and she started to study the hand, frowning at the blood drying on the skin. She glanced back at Jasper's arm. Shakily, she got up and stared at the limb. "You were bleeding," she said, astonished.

"No shit," Jasper growled. The beeping slowed back to its original rhythm as Jasper calmed. On a compulsion, Jasper bent her head to lick at the wound. As her tongue lapped up, she realized what Pearl meant. Her head reared back with a shocked yelp, her hand slapping down to cover the blood. "I'm bleeding," Jasper said.

"Not anymore," Dr. Maheswaranh replied, trying to remove Jasper's hand. Jasper allowed the doctor to move it away and inspect the wound. The doctor walked back and opened a nearby cabinet, grabbing a brown bottle and some cotton swabs. She went back to Jasper and scowled at the spot where Jasper's tongue licked up some of her blood. Quickly and methodically, Dr. Maheswaranh used the cotton swabs that she soaked with the disinfectant liquid from the brown bottle to clean up the blood. Once the area was clean, Dr. Maheswaranh bent down and picked up the neglected IV tube. Jasper growled at the sight of the needle.

Amazingly, the human did not flinch and started the process of putting back in the IV tube. Jasper was impressed and she didn't try to stop the doctor from putting it back in. She hissed in pain at the initial stab and watched as Dr. Maheswaranh made sure that the needle would not come undone.

"There," she sighed, taping down the needle, "that should hold it. Don't try to remove it, it's giving you fluids." Dr. Maheswaranh picked up the folder that she had dropped when she tried to push Jasper down on the bed. "Although, it doesn't seem like you need it. You have remarkable regenerative abilities; any human would have been in that coma for weeks or even months. Still, I would like to run some tests on you if that is okay," Dr. Maheswaranh finished, glancing up at Jasper.

Jasper was too busy staring at the needle. She bled when she pulled it out. As if she were a human. The beeping began to speed up again and she snarled at the machine, finally fed up with the annoying sound. She heard Steven snicker and Jasper turned her head to hiss at him before resuming her glaring at the contraption.

Dr. Maheswaranh followed Jasper's glaring eyes to the machine. "That's the heart monitor." She walked over and tapped against the glass surface to where the spikes were. "This is your heartbeat."

"Heartbeat!?" Pearl squeaked. "She can't have a heart! She's a gem!"

"I can't believe I'm saying this but the traitor is right," Jasper said, having a sour taste in her mouth at the agreement. She looked at the monitor and her eyes followed every spike of what was her heartbeat. A clawed hand came up and rest over her gem. Jasper gasped as she felt the thump of her heart. Her heart. She removed her hand and stared at it like it was a new being. "I have a heartbeat." She looked at Dr. Maheswaranh, "What is going on?"

Steven spoke up before anyone could answer. "You're like me now!" he said in excitement. Jasper looked at the boy and saw that he could barely keep his body still.

Jasper sneered at him, "I am nothing like you, brat."

His eyes dimmed at the words for only a moment before they were bright again. "Yeah, you are. Look Jasper," he lifted his shirt so that his gem was showing, "we both have gems yet we have heartbeats and have to eat and drink and sleep like humans!" He threw his hands in the air like he made some incredible conclusion, "We're gem-human hybrids!"

The quartz gem snarled at the words but she couldn't deny the beeping from the machine or the thump of her heart. She saw Pearl tense up from the corner of her eye when she reached over and started to undo the restraints on her right arm again. Jasper ignored the gem and finally ripped the restraint off but she didn't try to hurt anyone like she suspected everyone thought she would. She sat up, groaning at the stiff back and sending a glare to the doctor. "Let's get this over with," Jasper grunted as she threw her legs over the bed. She tried to get off but Dr. Maheswaranh rested her hand on Jasper's shoulder.

"Don't get up just yet. I have some tests I need to conduct here." Dr. Maheswaranh glanced down at Steven and frowned at him. "Steven, go wash your hands, we have no idea what Jasper's blood could do to you." She looked up at Pearl, "You should go with him." Pearl was about to argue when Dr. Maheswaranh spoke up, "Send in the other Crystal Gem as a bodyguard if it will make you feel better."

Pearl looked at Jasper and her eyes hardened again but this time Jasper could see some reluctance. "Don't try anything, there's another gem besides us in the hospital and trust me when I say that she won't hesitate in shattering you either."

Steven frowned up at his guardian and grabbed her hand with the one that was not covered in blood. "Come on Pearl, we need to go." Steven more hauled Pearl out of the room than led her. A moment later Garnet came in and stood next to the door with her arms crossed. She didn't say anything, only stared off in some direction.

"Okay," Dr. Maheswaranh said. While Jasper was watching the gems, the doctor retrieved all the supplies she needed for an extensive checkup. She grabbed a new sheet of paper and wrote down Jasper's vitals before putting her stethoscope around her neck. "I wish to see your gem, is that all right?"

Jasper hesitated for a second before reaching up and pulling down her shirt so that her gem was exposed. She felt both eyes were studying the gem and she huffed at the obsession of her new gem. In truth however, Jasper was eager to know why her gem had moved and why it was in different shape and color. This was never heard of and if she had to stoop so low as to allow a rebel and a human to study her gem to get her answers, then she would just have to swallow the bitter pill. She felt Dr. Maheswaranh tap at it and Jasper shuddered, feeling a flush grow on her cheeks and her heartbeat quicken. "Don't do that," Jasper growled, her tone deeper than usual.

Dr. Maheswaranh seemed confused before realization made her blush deeply. She quickly removed her hand and wrote down a few quick notes. "The gem seems to be a source of," she thought of the correct word, "stimulation for the patient." She looked at Garnet who seemed unfazed by the sudden reaction. "Is this normal for gems?"

"No," was all Garnet said.

Dr. Maheswaranh scribbled some more notes and put in the stethoscope. "I'm going to put this on you and it will be a little cold. Um, it's going to read your heart rate." The doctor glanced at the gem and Jasper groaned, her heartbeat quickening even more despite herself. Jasper gave a quick, jerky nod. Dr. Maheswaranh waited for a few moments for Jasper's heartbeat to return to normal before placing it over Jasper's gem and listening for a few moments. "Take a deep breath," she ordered. Jasper knew she had no choice but to follow and she took a few deep breaths, realizing that the doctor was counting her heartbeats. She placed the stethoscope on different parts of Jasper's body, asking her to take a few deep breaths each time and counting the heartbeats. "Too slow for a human," she muttered, writing it down on her sheet pf paper.

"Don't forget, Jasper was never human but she is no longer a true quartz gem," Garnet said from her spot near the wall. She walked over to the doctor and looked over her shoulder to see what she had written down. "She's an entirely new being so perhaps comparing her to a human is not an efficient way to go about this."

"Then how do I know if she's healthy?" Dr. Maheswaranh played with the cuff of her doctor's jacket, glancing up at Jasper. "Without anything to compare her vitals with, I have no idea if she's about to die or if she's fine to leave the hospital!" she yelled out in frustration. Dr. Maheswaranh rubbed at her eyes and Jasper noticed the deep bags under them. How long since the doctor had any sleep?

Garnet rested a hand on the human's shoulder. "Don't think of it like that. Try to think of it as a new species, something nobody has ever studied before."

Garnet's words seemed to help Dr. Maheswaranh because she nodded and grabbed her otoscope and fitted on a new ear piece. "You're right, um, Garnet was it?" Garnet nodded with a small grin. Dr. Maheswaranh turned her attention back to Jasper. "I'm going to check your ears now. Please move back your hair."

Jasper did as she was told and frowned in discomfort as she felt the doctor put something in her ear. She could just make out some sort of light coming from the thing from the corner of her eye. "What is that for?"

"It's to see if your ears are clogged with anything." Dr. Maheswaranh answered as she moved to the other side to check Jasper's other ear. "Afterwards, I'm going to put headphones over your ears so that we can see how good your hearing is." The doctor removed the otoscope and wrote down some notes. She turned around to grab the headset and frowned at Jasper's horns. Dr. Maheswaranh gave the headphones to Jasper. "Try to put these on your head so that the ear muffs completely cover your ears."

Jasper tried to put the headset on but the horns got in the way. She moved the band back and tried to put on the headset like that but the tips of her horns still caught it. The quartz gem growled and shoved the headset back into the doctor's hands.

Dr. Maheswaranh sighed and put them down. "I can't run the test if these aren't on your head. How would you be able to hear the pings?"

Garnet spoke up again. "Jasper's hearing should far surpass a human's. She'll be able to hear the pings even if the headphones aren't on her.

Dr. Maheswaranh's eyes widened. "Really? How interesting." She rushed over to the machine that the headphones were connected to. She looked back at Jasper. "When you hear a ping, raise your hand." She turned the machine on and immediately Jasper and Garnet's hands went up.

"Just so you have something to compare the results to," Garnet said when Dr. Maheswaranh looked at her confused. Another ping went off and both hands rose again. After the fourth ping, both hands were raised. It was the same result for the fifth and sixth ping as well.

The pen flew down on the paper as Dr. Maheswaranh wrote down the results, apparently now excited about the tests. She tapped the end of the pen to her chin as she watched Jasper scratch at her arm in disinterest. "I wonder," she said to herself. She glanced at Garnet and back at Jasper. "I have an idea but I need to leave the room for a moment to get the appropriate supplies. Will you be all right alone with her?"

Jasper almost laughed, the human was worried that the Crystal Gem would be in danger if she left. Garnet turned her head to look at Jasper and shrugged. "I can take her."

Jasper growled at that, "That's only because you're a fucking fusion, freak."

Garnet frowned at the words and summoned her two weapons. She pointed one at Jasper's face. "Want to say that again?" she asked. Jasper noticed that the tone was lower than normal and guessed that it was the ruby that threatened her. Jasper simply growled and Garnet's weapons disappeared. "That's what I thought," she said, her voice now normal.

Dr. Maheswaranh looked between the two one last time before hurrying out of the room. Jasper looked down at the IV and watched with some interest as fluids entered her body. She wondered for a moment why she was so trusting of the human doctor, the woman could easily be trying to give her some kind of toxin or a solution that made her brain numb. But as she considered the options, she concluded that she was being paranoid. If the doctor wanted to immobilize or kill her, she would have done it when she was in her coma.

After a few tense minutes, Dr. Maheswaranh came back into the room, carrying a device that looked suspiciously like the one she used before. A look of relief crossed her face before she schooled it back to one of professionalism. The doctor started to set up the machine as she explained, "This is essentially the same device as the one before however, this one has higher frequencies that only dogs can hear. There are more different types of pings here than the other one as well so we should have a better reading." She plugged in the headphones and glanced back at the two gems. "Are you two ready?" Garnet nodded while Jasper grunted. Dr. Maheswaranh turned on the machine.

Just like before, both hands rose up as they heard the first ping. It continued this way for three other pings, each one more quiet than the last. Finally, on the fourth ping, Jasper's hand was the only one that rose. The quartz gem looked at Garnet expectantly, but the fusion simply shrugged. Another ping and Jasper was the only one that rose her hand. Dr. Maheswaranh seemed to get more excited with each ping afterwards, each time Jasper's hand raising without fail. When she finally could not hear anything coming out of the machine, she crossed her arms.

Dr. Maheswaranh checked the machine and smiled in excitement at what she found. "Your ears are able to detect sounds that are 46,000 Hurtz! A human can only detect 23,000 Hurtz. This is incredible," she exclaimed, eagerly grabbing another device and rushing to Jasper. When the doctor neared, Jasper saw that she was carrying something similar to the otoscope. She held it up to Jasper's eye and warned, "You are going to see a very bright light in a moment."

A small click was heard and Jasper hissed as her right eye was blinded. She dug her claws into the mattress of her hospital bed and heard it rip under her. With her left eye, she saw that Dr. Maheswaranh was watching her pupil's reaction with a grin of a scientist making a new discovery. "Your pupils appear to be akin to a cat's. They can slit vertically when exposed to bright light. Oh if only it was night!" she complained. "I wonder how far your eyes can see in complete darkness." She checked the other eye and turned off the device. She held up a finger and began to move it. "Follow my finger with only your eyes, try not to move your head." Jasper did the test with an annoyed sigh, she preferred the hearing test than this.

The doctor scribbled down some notes and took something out of her lab coat's pocket. It looked like one of those sticks of wood that held popsicles, Jasper thought to herself. "I need you to open your mouth now. I'm going to check your teeth and tongue." Dr. Maheswaranh held it up expectantly and Jasper opened her mouth slightly, starting to think that these tests were just to waste her time. "Wider," the doctor ordered.

Jasper complied and felt the wood press down on her tongue. She looked down to see Dr. Maheswaranh shine a light into her mouth, her eyes widening when she saw Jasper's sharp canine and fangs. Jasper felt one of her teeth being poked by a gloved finger and she was tempted to snap her jaws shut but one glance of Garnet and she knew that if she did, she would be bubbled without hesitation. Jasper felt the stick being removed from her mouth but before she could close it, she felt Dr. Maheswaranh grab her tongue with two of her fingers. The doctor gave a slight pull and shined her light on the tongue, making note that it had the same coloration as a human's. "Stick your tongue out as far as you can." Jasper rolled her eyes but did the command nonetheless, stretching her tongue out a good four inches. Dr. Maheswaranh quickly wrote down the length and she held up the stick. "Try to grab it with your tongue and hold it up without using your hands."

Jasper grumbled but her tongue wrapped around the stick and held it up for three seconds before she deliberately dropped it. "Happy?"

Dr. Maheswaranh just hummed to herself and wrote something down on her clipboard. She glanced at the equipment she had with her and then at Garnet. "Will it be okay if I examined her physical abilities?"

Garnet shrugged but her weapon appeared on her right hand. "As long as Jasper behaves," she said pointedly.

Dr. Maheswaranh grinned and ran back out of the room, giggling as if she just received the greatest present ever. Jasper watched her with a grimace, humans had not changed since the rebellion. They still get so excited over something that wasn't really that interesting. Jasper turned her eyes over to Garnet who went back to crossing her arms. "Explain to me why I haven't tried to escape yet," she grumbled.

"Because you have nowhere to go," Garnet answered, her hand coming up to fix her visor.

The doctor chose that moment to run back to the room and up to Jasper. She had a block of wood in her hands that was about a half an inch thick. "I want you to bite this," she said, thrusting the block into Jasper's hands.

Jasper took the block of wood and studied it for a moment, wondering what could possibly come out of her biting it. She shrugged and opened her mouth, feeling her fangs grow longer and sharper. She bit down on the wood and felt it splinter but she continued to close her jaws, slowly piercing through the chunk of wood. When Jasper's mouth was fully closed, she carefully opened it up again so her fangs could slip out of the holes she made. Jasper took the piece of wood out and examined her work as her fangs resumed their normal size. There were four holes where her fangs went completely through and several deep dips where her other teeth bit into the wood. She handed Dr. Maheswaranh the block of wood and the doctor ran her gloved fingers through the new dips and holes.

"Incredible," she whispered to herself, grabbing a sterile plastic bag and placing the wood into it. She made sure it was closed properly before glancing back at Garnet. "I would like to take her outside now, if that is advisable."

Jasper's eyes widen at the thought of being outside. The only time she was ever allowed to go outside was when Garnet and Steven escorted her to the barn. She looked at Garnet and could tell that the fusion was weighing her options. Garnet met Jasper's stare and fixed her visors. "All right, but I need to get someone first." Without making sure that the doctor would be okay, Garnet left the room.

Dr. Maheswaranh did not seem to be afraid of being alone in the same room as the gem that once tried to destroy the earth. She looked over the results she jotted down and Jasper could hear her muttering to herself. "Perhaps the patient is more animal than human? A canine maybe. Or a feline more likely."

Jasper rolled her eyes as the doctor continued to talk to herself. She could hear Garnet's footsteps returning but there were two others with her. Jasper tilted her head as she stared at the door, trying to figure out who was walking with Garnet. A groan left her mouth when she realized that the other pairs of footsteps did not belong to two people but one. Or rather one annoying pink lion.

Garnet opened the door and Lion hurried in, immediately trying to get up on Jasper's bed. Jasper shoved him off each time, hissing at the creature who only purred in response.

"Oh no! There are no animals allowed in this hospital!" Dr. Maheswaranh said. She looked like she wanted to push the animal out of the room but was unsure if the lion would bite her if she tried.

"I said get off!" Jasper growled, shoving Lion back to the floor for the fifth time. Lion landed on the tiled floor and stared up at the quartz gem, still purring. "Why is this creature here? I would even prefer to the pearl compared to this oversized fuzzball."

"Pearl is with the other doctors discussing your," Garnet trailed off for a few moments, thinking of the correct word, "condition. Steven said that we could borrow Lion for more of Dr. Maheswaranh's tests."

Jasper groaned and hissed at the lion when he tried to lay his head on her lap. She looked up when she heard more scribbling coming from the doctor. Dr. Maheswaranh wrote a few more things down before asking the quartz gem, "Have you always been able to hiss and growl?"

"No," Jasper grounded out through clenched teeth. She got off of her bed and stumbled forward a few steps, her body not used to carrying its own weight. Jasper steadied herself and stood up straight, brushing away some imaginary dirt from her clothes. She tried to take another step forward but the IV tube became taught. Jasper considered the option of ripping it out again but she didn't want to bleed so much like last time.

"If you are not up to walking around, we can postpone the tests until you are fully rested," Dr. Maheswaranh offered.

"I am fully rested," Jasper protested, wanting to taste fresh air again, even if it meant having to put up with Lion and Garnet watching her every move. She gestured to the IV still in her arm. "Take this damn thing out and we can leave."

Dr. Maheswaranh frowned at Jasper's choice of words but she took out the needle nonetheless, quickly covering it with some gauze so it wouldn't bleed out. She turned off several of the machines so as to conserve energy and nodded towards the door. The doctor led the group out the door and through various hallways. The patients and doctors that happened to be roaming the halls stopped to stare at Jasper and Lion. Jasper fought the urge to head-butt or at least growl at each of them. It wasn't like the people of this strange town hadn't seen a nonhuman before.

After five minutes of walking and cramming into an elevator for two floors, nearly scaring an elderly woman to death, the group exited the building to go to the exercise yard in the back. Jasper looked at the various equipment and the track that encircled the yard. She could tell that most of the equipment was used to build up strength in the arms but some she had no idea what its purpose was. Jasper took a step away from the group before turning back to look at the doctor.

The doctor seemed to be assessing the different types of equipment and she walked over to one. It was a cylindrical bag of some sort that hung from a metal pole that stuck up from the ground. Jasper followed Dr. Maheswaranh and tilted her head at it, trying to figure out what it was.

"Okay Jasper, I think this will do nicely," Dr. Maheswaranh finally declared. She rested a hand on the bag. "This is called a punching bag and we use it to build up strength in a patient's arms and test their arm movements. However, I want you to use your horns on it."

"You want me to head-butt the punching bag?" Jasper asked, a smile creeping up on her face.

"Yes, that is correct," Dr. Maheswaranh answered with a nod. "Try to hit it as hard as you - AH!" Dr. Maheswaranh shrieked as Jasper suddenly rammed her horns against the bag, causing it to be ripped off its metal handle and slam into the hospital's wall. It fell with a defeated thud and the doctor could only stare at the new crater adorning the once pristine white wall. She looked back at Jasper who was grinning triumphantly, her eyes now appearing the glow with primal delight. "V-very good Jasper," Dr. Maheswaranh said, starting to wonder if this was a good idea after all.

"Now what?" Jasper asked eagerly. It felt good to let some of the beast out. She could feel her claws extending and what she now recognized as her heart thumping from the adrenaline coursing through her veins. She didn't care that Garnet was there keeping an eye on her or that Pearl was inside just waiting for any excuse to shatter her, all she wanted to do was to have more fun.

Dr. Maheswaranh glanced back at the destroyed punching bag, gulping at how there was now a hole on one side and stuffing coming out. She looked back at the other equipment and narrowed her options, immediately crossing out all the expensive equipment that Jasper would most likely destroy. Her eyes settled on a tire that the doctors would sometimes have the athletes try to roll. "Try lifting that," she said.

Jasper walked over to the tire and frowned at it. She grabbed one side with one of her hands and easily lifted it off the ground. "This is too light," she complained.

"Oh, then uh," Dr. Maheswaranh floundered for the first time in weeks in what to do with her patient. She glanced at Garnet for some help but the gem just shrugged. She looked back at Jasper who was starting to look bored. "Throw it as far as you can."

A wicked grin lit up Jasper's face as she gripped the tire with both hands. She twirled on the spot a few times, gaining momentum before letting the tire fly. It flew far away from the group, even past the fence that enclosed the exercise yard and into the parking lot. They heard it crash into some poor civilian's car and the alarm blaring right after. Jasper only laughed at the man rushing out of the hospital to inspect the damage that she had caused.

"That isn't funny, Jasper," Garnet said, crossing her arms. "Now that poor man might not be able to go home."

"It's not my fault," Jasper responded, wheezing from laughing so much. By the diamonds it felt amazing to test her strength. "The human doctor told me to throw the tire so I threw it." She looked back at Dr. Maheswaranh. "Now what do you want me to do?" She pointed a clawed finger at another punching bag. "Do you want me to punch that?"

"NO!" Dr. Maheswaranh yelled out. A blush covered her cheeks as she coughed once into her fist. "What I meant to say is that we already know that you're very strong." Her eyes flashed from one equipment to the next but each one she could imagine Jasper breaking it and causing the hospital another expensive bill. She looked at the track and an idea popped into her head. "I think the next experiment to do is to test your stamina." She nodded towards the track. "Run as fast as you can for as long as you can."

Jasper eyed the track on the other side of the yard and then glanced at Garnet. The fusion fixed her visors and gave the quartz gem a thumb's up, silently telling her that she trusts her enough not to run off. Jasper was shocked by the amount of trust that the fusion was giving her and by the fact that she honestly hadn't considered escaping at that moment. Jasper started to jog the track, slowly speeding up speed. After a lap, she was now sprinting but something didn't feel right.

The noise of something bounding after her caused Jasper to glance behind her as she ran. Lion was easily catching up to her and started to pass her. Jasper growled low in her throat and pushed herself even harder, running as fast as she could, but the animal still ran ahead of her. Something within Jasper's mind snapped and she leaned down until she was running on all fours. As she caught up with the lion and started to outrun _him,_ Jasper laughed. She always loved feeling the wind rip through her hair, trying futilely to hold her back. But now feeling the turf under her clawed hands and feet added to the sensation of freedom. Jasper pounded onwards passing Lion again but this time the animal turned at the last moment and the quartz gem crashed into him. The two rolled to a violent stop and Jasper leapt away, snarling as she felt blood trickle down her side. She glanced down and saw that her shirt was ripped, one of Lion's claws accidentally catching her side. Feeling a rage she didn't know she could feel, Jasper pounced on Lion, hissing and clawing at him. Lion defended himself, mewing like a kitten would when it knew it did something wrong.

Jasper's head whipped back as Garnet pulled the larger gem off of Lion by the quartz gem's horns. Jasper struggled against Garnet's grip but her body was too tired from the tests to wrestle out of the grip that the fusion had on her. Jasper snarled and hissed at the fusion but suddenly stopped when she felt something soft brush up against her gem. Her eyes flashed down to see that Lion had gotten back up on his feet and was now rubbing his head against Jasper's gem, purring softly. Jasper started to calm down despite herself and she stopped struggling against Garnet. She felt Garnet let go of her horn and Jasper slumped down, now sitting on the ground where she had attacked Lion. Lion backed up and looked at Jasper with eyes that showed no ill will.

"Incredible!" the three heard Dr. Maheswaranh exclaim. The doctor ran up to them and examined Lion's body for any wounds. Even though Jasper could have sworn that she raked her claws against his side, there was no sign of injury on the animal. He gently pushed the doctor's hands away and mewed towards Jasper. Dr. Maheswaranh turned around and noticed the bleeding side. "Let me look at that."

Jasper allowed the human to inspect her side without complaint, still staring at the animal. She had shoved him away, degraded him, and now attacked him and yet Lion still showed concerned for her well-being. The quartz gem did not understand the animal at all. She felt something cover her new wound and glanced down to see the doctor finish taping gauze to it.

"As soon as the animal started to purr against your gem, you calmed down." Dr. Maheswaranh said, more to herself than to Jasper. She removed her gloves and looked at the gem. "But I thought that your gem was an erogenous zone."

"Gems are much more complex than that," Garnet said. "They are the source of our entire being, without it we would not exist as you would not exist without your brain. It can be a source of pleasure, yes, but it can also be a source of comfort and pain." Garnet held out her palms so that both of her gems were visible. "Each gem is unique as is each human." She closed one of her hands so that only the gem that belonged to Ruby was exposed. "One can be rough and hot. The being can have a quick temper and yet be so protective of those that she cares for." She opened her other hand, "While another can be smooth and cold. She may seem like she has no emotions but once you get to know her, you find that she is the most empathetic person you will ever know. Someone who will listen to you when you wish and offer sound advice when you need it."

Jasper had a feeling that Garnet was explaining the gems more for her benefit than the doctor's but she didn't voice her opinion.

Garnet turned her head and lowered her visors so that Jasper can see all three of her eyes looking at her. Jasper growled and crossed her arms. "I am not as complex as you think." Garnet shook her head with a sigh and started to walk inside. The doctor, lion, and quartz gem followed her and retraced their steps back to the room. When they entered the hallway, Jasper's ears picked up rapid pacing from her room. She groaned, not even having to catch her scent to know exactly who was in her room.

They entered the room to see Pearl pacing about, muttering to herself as her hands gripped at her hair. When the crystal gem caught sight of the group, she sighed in relief. "Do you have any idea what I thought happened!?"

"I ran some experiments on Jasper that required her to have more space than this room provided," Dr. Maheswaranh simply said. She looked over her notes again before handing them over to Pearl. "You should look at these notes and tell me what you think."

Pearl's eyes flashed between the four and started to flip through the notes. She hummed and muttered to herself, saying stuff like, "Not surprising," and "That's new." Jasper sat back into her bed and had to immediately shove off Lion. The animal wouldn't leave her alone!

Garnet watched everyone for a moment before turning to leave. Pearl looked up from the notes, "Wait, where are you going?"

"I have to tell Steven something," Garnet said, pausing in the door frame and looking back to the gem. When no one tried to stop her, the fusion left the room and walked towards the waiting room.

Pearl grumbled under her breath and resumed going over the notes Dr. Maheswaranh had written. From the light blue blush spreading across her cheeks, Jasper guessed Pearl got to the part of her gem being a source of sexual stimulation. Pearl rapidly flipped over to another page and Jasper snickered. She halted on one page and reread the notes several times before turning to look at Jasper and Lion.

"Lion can calm you down?" Pearl asked.

Jasper shrugged and absentmindedly picked at her horn. "I guess so. The fucker made me run in to him and we started to fight. Garnet got me off of him and he just started to purr against my gem."

Pearl put a finger on her chin as she studied Lion who was staring at Jasper. She sighed and Jasper heard something along the lines of, "Really was Rose's," before the Crystal Gem went back to the notes. Pearl walked over to Dr. Maheswaranh when she had finished going over the notes and the two started to discuss Jasper right in front of the quartz gem. They didn't bother to keep their voices down, knowing that Jasper would still be able to hear them if they whispered.

Jasper huffed and looked down at Lion who immediately started to purr again. "What are you looking at?" Jasper growled, using her right foot to push Lion away. As soon as Jasper pulled back her foot, Lion went to the side of her bed, staring up at her. After a few tries, the quartz gem finally gave up. Lion seemed to sense the defeat because his eyes closed and the purring grew in volume. Jasper hissed lowly at him before turning her attention to the other two. They had finished talking and were watching the two. Jasper hissed at them too.

"Oh Jasper, stop doing that," Pearl said, rolling her eyes. Jasper only hissed again. "Anyway, Dr. Maheswaranh and I finished going over the notes and we believe that what Steven said earlier was correct, or for the most part anyway." When Jasper raised an eyebrow, Pearl groaned, "When he said you two were the same. We believe that you are a hybrid." When Jasper still looked confused, Pearl walked over to the white board that held Jasper's vitals information. "May I?" she asked Dr. Maheswaranh.

"Let me help," Dr. Maheswaranh said, coming over to the board as well. They erased the information on the board and together they drew a Venn diagram, one side dedicated for humans and the other for gems. Where the two circles crossed, they wrote 'Jasper.' They spent ten minutes listing the things that Jasper shared and did not share with the two species. Once they were done, the board was filled with their writing, some even including drawings to better articulate what they had written.

"There," Pearl breathed, obviously proud of the finished product. She placed down the marker and turned around to face Jasper. "Any questions?"

Jasper looked over the board, her eyes settling on the different images longest before her eyes met Pearl's. "Yeah, what did you write down? I can't read."

Pearl looked as if Jasper had told her the most offensive thing she had ever heard. "YOU WHAT!?" Pearl yelled out, absolutely mortified.


	5. Jasper's a what?

Jasper watched as Pearl paced around the room, completely ignoring the other three occupants. The quartz gem found it extremely amusing that the pearl was so appalled by her inability to read what they had scribbled onto the board. The three could hear Pearl mutter to herself, some actual coherent words and phrases coming out of the Crystal Gem every now and again. Jasper could make out, "stupid jaspers," and "can't read, even Steven can read," among others.

Pearl finally stopped pacing and turned to face Jasper. She sighed deeply and squeezed the bridge of her nose while her free hand gestured to the board. "How can you possibly not know how to read?" Jasper could tell the Crystal Gem was losing her patience as she raised both hands up in the air in a flare of dramatic exasperation. "You've been around for thousands of years! What have you been doing with all that time!?"

"Simple," Jasper said, scratching at an itch under her left horn. "I'm a jasper. We were created to fight, not to waste our time on something as pathetic as reading."

"Pathetic!?" Pearl yelled, her voice cracking. Even Lion winced at the sound. "How did you write your reports for your missions or even know what they were if you didn't read them?" She would have sounded genuinely interested if not for the condescending tone.

Jasper was starting to get irritated by Pearl's attitude. It had nothing to do with the Crystal Gem whether Jasper could read or not. So why did the pearl seem so personally offended? "I had someone else to do all that. Hell, I even got that peridot to write my reports on that fuck up of a mission." A low chuckle rumbled Jasper's chest as she relived the memory. "All I had to say was that peridots were too stupid to write a simple report."

Pearl's left eye started to twitch and she raised a finger into the air. Jasper was somewhat surprised that it wasn't the middle one. "That is a low trick and you should be-" Jasper tuned out the rest, figuring the pearl would try to make her feel guilty that she used Peridot's pride to her advantage. She glanced down at Lion who had curled up into a ball to take a nap. Sleeping sounded really good right now, Jasper realized.

Dr. Maheswaranh saw that the entire situation was starting to get out of hand. She cleared her throat to get both gems' attention. She looked at Pearl pointedly, "Perhaps it is best we don't try to aggravate the patient."

Pearl's eyes widened as she gestured wildly to Jasper who was doing her best not to growl at the Crystal Gem or yawn. "She can't read! How can she possibly not know how to read?"

The doctor glanced at Jasper. "It doesn't matter now. Even though I am shocked like you, as her doctor my first priority is her health, not her literacy." She turned her body towards Jasper and cocked her head in the direction of the board. "Would you like me to explain what we have written down?"

The quartz gem yawned, baring her fangs, trying to hide the budding excitement inside of her. "Sure, whatever. At least it would stop the bird from squawking."

Pearl sucked in a breath but Dr. Maheswaranh spoke up before the Crystal Gem could say anything. "We believe that you are indeed a hybrid between a gem and a human like Steven. However, you have the difficulties of becoming one after birth, or creation," the doctor corrected herself, "unlike Steven." She tapped at one of the points that Pearl had written down. "We, being the crystal gems and the doctors that know that you are here, believe that because of the reverse corruption, you are more animalistic in nature, hence your claws, fangs, horns, and your abnormal behavior."

"Not that you weren't beast-like before," Pearl muttered, loud enough for both of them to hear.

"Because the hybridization was not natural," Dr. Maheswaranh continued as if Pearl had never spoke, "your body is burning so much energy that your gem can no longer keep up with the demand. You need food and sleep like a human would in order to stay in your current form." She waited for the information to sink in before concluding, "If you don't acquire enough energy or rest, there might be a risk that you'll revert back to your corrupted state."

Jasper looked down at the new markings on her arms and claws. She could revert back to her corruption. She could go back to that hell hole. Her hand slowly rested over her gem, feeling her heart pound.

"We still don't know why your gem moved," Dr. Maheswaranh said, misinterpreting Jasper's actions. She glanced at Pearl who nodded solemnly. "Although we do have a possible explanation. As you still retain some of the, er, aspects of your corrupted form, it is apparent that Steven could not truly revert you to your form before the corruption. As such, it is possible that your old gem was shattered during the healing process and a new gem was created to take its place."

"I don't understand," Jasper said, looking down at her new gem. "If my gem was shattered, I should cease to exist."

Pearl cleared her throat so she could get Jasper's attention. "Yes, well, if a new gem was created simultaneously as your old gem was shattered, it is possible that uh," Pearl faltered to explain, her eyes roaming the board, trying to find an answer that wasn't there. "Perhaps your memories transferred, along with some of the corruption which resulted in you." When Jasper didn't respond, Pearl sighed, rubbing her temples. "We don't actually know why your gem moved and changed shape. When Steven had healed Amethyst, her gem stayed the way it was but you are an entirely different story." A weak chuckled bubbled out of Pearl before she could stop it. "You would think that beings thousands of years old could figure this out."

Jasper was quiet for a long time, mulling over what Pearl said. They don't know why her gem moved or even how. Did that mean it could go back? And if it did, would she be fully corrupted again? "Has Rose ever done something like this before?" Jasper asked. She was terrified of the answer but she needed to know. She looked up at Pearl and she saw the walls going up but she could still easily read the pain in those blue eyes.

"No, Steven," Pearl said the name with such emphasis that it might have been comedic if not for the current situation, "has tried to reverse the corruption on one other gem and it worked, but not to this extent. The gem was more corrupted than whole and it didn't even last for a day."

Jasper gripped at the gem above her heart. Lion lifted his head and mewed at Jasper and for some reason, it made her feel a little bit better. "What you're saying is you have no idea what's going to happen to me?" Her eyes flashed between the Crystal Gem and doctor that were supposed to have all the answers before settling on the hand clenching her gem. "I could be fine but nobody has any fucking idea if this is going to last."

"We don't," Pearl confessed. "But don't forget that you're different from the other corrupted gems. They've been corrupted for thousands of years and you've only been in your corrupted state for less than a minute before Peridot poofed you. And you were corrupted after fusing with a corrupted gem. The others," the Crystal Gem hesitated and Jasper could see that the pearl was lost in the past, in that war, "they were corrupted by the diamonds." Pearl shook her head to clear it. "Both factors would make your corruption less severe." She turned her head to look at the board like she was making sure she had covered everything they written down but both Jasper and Dr. Maheswaranh knew that the movement was so she wouldn't have to look at Jasper anymore.

"I'm bored of this," Jasper said suddenly. "I wish to leave this place and sleep."

Pearl hid her relief poorly and she was the first to the door with Lion following closely behind. Jasper got off the table to follow the Crystal Gem but Dr. Maheswaranh stopped them. "Wait, take this." She gave Pearl a sheet of paper and looked at Jasper. "I'm giving her what I would recommend to a famine victim. You need to start eating only liquids and slowly build up to solids so your body can get used to digesting food and expelling waste. You also need a regular sleep schedule of about nine hours a night."

"Great," Jasper grumbled, "I get to waste the day away like the brat." She reached past Pearl and shoved the door open, smirking at the satisfying smack of it slamming into the wall. She marched pass the two and out into the hallway. Not knowing where to go, she waited impatiently with Lion as Pearl exchanged a few last words with the doctor before coming out.

"You'll have to come back in a month for a checkup." Without saying another word, Pearl started to walk down the hallway. Jasper and Lion followed her through the various hallways. Eventually, they went past one door and were in the waiting room. There were various people scattered throughout the place, people who were worried for the patients that may or may not come back. They all looked up expectantly, assuming the trio were the loved ones that they missed so much. Each one looked away, apparently too disappointed that their families or friends were still somewhere in the hospital to be freaked out by Jasper's more than inhuman appearance. Except for a group of three at the far back of the room, sitting in the chairs closest to the exit.

"Jasper!" Steven yelled out, jumping out of his seat and running over to the trio. He wrapped his arms around Jasper, or at the very least her left leg. He looked up at her with a wide smile, stars in his eyes. "I'm so glad you're okay! We were really worried about you and we came to visit you every day!"

Jasper narrowed her eyes in confusion. "We?" Did that mean the Crystal Gems weren't watching her every moment while she was in the coma? Did they really trust her that much to not to try and escape? Or did they just think that's she was too weak to escape?

Steven nodded with a grin. "Yep! Lapis and I came every day and sat here waiting for you to wake up. Peridot sometimes comes over too. They're here now." He pointed to the other side of the room where Lapis and Peridot were still sitting down, staring at Jasper. Steven looked up at Jasper and gave her leg a squeeze before going over to Pearl.

Jasper could hear the two start to talk about Jasper's treatment and the brat getting excited over what he could get Jasper to eat. However, she couldn't understand what the two were saying, she was too busy staring at Lapis and Peridot. Peridot got out of her chair and seemed to be debating whether to go towards the group or lead Lapis out of the hospital. Jasper made the decision for the green gem. She walked over to the two and could practically feel the tension rise with each step. When she was right in front of the two, Jasper opened her mouth to say something, anything really, but her mind became blank.

Peridot stood between Lapis and Jasper and looked up at her. "You're awake," she said to break the silence.

Jasper just nodded, staring at Lapis. "You said my name, from before" she finally said. Lapis winced as if Jasper started to yell at her. The quartz gem glanced away and rubbed at the back of her neck. "The brat said that you visited every day."

Lapis was quiet for a few moments and then nodded her head. "The Crystal Gems were busy so I took him." She nodded down at Peridot. "She came too."

"I only came because I was curious about the human technology!" Peridot retorted, trying to diffuse the tension or at least get Jasper's attention away from Lapis. "But as soon as I got here, they wouldn't let me anywhere near it." The green gem's face flushed in frustration as she pointed to the doors that led out of the waiting room and into the actual hospital. "The clods said that I would cause more harm than good! I just wanted to see it, not play with it." Peridot crossed her arms and glared at the door.

Jasper looked down at Peridot and then back at Lapis. She opened her mouth to say something but the others decided that moment to realize that Jasper was no longer with them. Pearl rushed over and stood between the other two gems and Jasper, her spear materialized in her hands. The tip of it pointed straight at Jasper's new gem. A low growl rumbled in Jasper's chest and Peridot's and Lapis's eyes widened in shock.

"Don't," Pearl warned. The growling stopped but Jasper didn't back away from the Crystal Gem or her weapon, still glaring down at the other gem with her pupils slit. Pearl met her eyes steadily.

"Um guys, maybe we should go home so Jasper can rest," Steven called out. Pearl broke eye contact with Jasper and nodded, looking back at the paper that the doctor had given her, her spear still gripped in one hand. Jasper knew the pearl was skilled enough that she would be able to thrust the spear and shatter her even when she was distracted by the list.

"We'll drop you off with Garnet and Amethyst and I'll go get the ingredients for your smoothies," Pearl said.

"Smoothies?" Jasper asked. She recalled something the brat said about smoothies being delicious. Pearl nodded and looked over the list again but Jasper noticed that she didn't move from between her and the other two gems.

"Yay smoothies!" Steven yelled out. He calmed and either being unaware of the tense atmosphere or simply ignoring it, clambered up on Lion's back. "Let's go home." He patted Lion's head but the animal didn't move from his spot. Lion yawned and laid down, resting his head on his forepaws in preparation for a nap. "No Lion," Steven whined, poking a pink ear. "You can't sleep here, it's a hospital. Sleep is for home."

Lion opened one eye and yawned again before getting back on his feet. Steven made an excited sound and Lion started to walk towards the exit. Steven turned his body around so he could still see the other gems. "Come on guys!" he called out.

Pearl sighed and folded the list before looking up at Jasper. Jasper got the hint and started to walk in front of Pearl. She could hear Pearl walk behind her but also two other pairs of footsteps. The quartz gem glanced behind her and saw Peridot and Lapis trailing behind a few feet. Jasper stopped walking when she reached the exit, causing Pearl to groan in irritation.

Lapis and Peridot slowed down but when it became obvious that Jasper wasn't going to start moving again until they exited the hospital, they picked up their pace. They made sure that Lion, Steven, and Pearl were in between them when they left the hospital. Jasper felt her chest begin to rumble with a growl at the distance but she forced herself to take a calming breath. The quartz gem was about to say something but she was interrupted once more, this time by Steven.

"We have to go, Jasper," Steven said, reaching out and pulling at Jasper's shirt, as if he had the strength to drag the gem away. "It isn't the right time."

Jasper's eyes flashed down to the boy. "The right time?" she repeated. She felt a pit in her stomach start to grow as Steven nodded. She glanced up and saw that Lapis and Peridot grabbed the opportunity to start to walk away. The quartz gem began to walk after them but Lion stepped into her way, Steven pushing a hand onto Jasper's chest to make the gem look down at him.

"Garnet told me not to let you talk to Peridot or Lapis outside of the hospital," Steven explained, removing his hand.

This time Jasper did not try to stop the growl bubbling in her throat. "What does that fusion know?"

Steven shrugged from atop of Lion. "She didn't say." His eyes widened and he jumped up and down from his position on Lion in excitement. "But she did tell me to tell you to give her the alien!"

Pearl beat Jasper before she could ask. "Give who what alien?"

Once again Steven shrugged. "No clue but it's going to be so cool!" He patted Lion's head and the animal started to walk in the direction of the beach house. "Maybe if we hurry, we'll be able to ask her."

Pearl looked up at Jasper and then back at Steven. She sighed and nodded towards the sidewalk. Sensing that she had no other option, Jasper turned and marched away from the hospital with Steven leading and Pearl at her back, her weapon still in her hands in case Jasper decided to run.


	6. Reading Time!

Jasper released a growl as she felt something poke the side of her stomach none-too-gently. She rolled over so that her stomach was covered, however the finger simply started to poke her back. Another growl erupted from her lips but this time the sound was more from frustration than anger. The quartz gem peeked one eye open and read the clock that the brat insisted he set up on the small table next to her couch. 9:45 A.M. Jasper had only received four hours of sleep without a night terror waking her, the longest since she managed to get once she left the hospital. The night terrors plagued her but Lion helped her, as much as it annoyed the quartz gem. Jasper found that she could go back to sleep after waking from a night terror faster every night and that she could sleep for longer periods of time before waking up roaring and screaming into Lion's mane. This gave her hope that one day she could have a fully restful night.

The same finger stabbed into her lower back and Jasper finally lifted her head to glare down at the hand raised to poke her again. For a moment, Jasper thought it was Dr. Maheswaranh coming to check up on her, but she realized the girl was far too small and young. She raked her brain to recall why the human looked so familiar. When she couldn't find the memory, she settled on hissing at the girl and at Lion who was sitting next to the mystery girl, staring at her with something akin to pride.

"Jasper, you really need to stop that," Pearl said. "It's rude and immature."

Jasper leaned up further and looked into the kitchen. Pearl was there, staring down at her with some leafy vegetable in one hand and a blender container in the other. Jasper hissed at her too but she got up into a sitting position on the couch, pushing away the blanket she was using. That was another thing that was new after being released from the bubble. Jasper could now feel cold and hot. She heard the human chuckle as the image of a crying cat in a spaceship flying away from an exploding planet was revealed.

"I didn't even know they made Cookie Cat merchandise," the human girl said.

"Cookie Cat?" Jasper asked, raising her arms high above her head to stretch them. She heard several satisfactory cracks in her joints and her claws extend to scratch at the air. Unfortunately, the crystal gems had plastic wrapped around the couch so Jasper could no longer dig her claws into the surface while stretching, lest the horrific screeching noise offended her sensitive ears.

"Um yeah, Cookie Cat is, or rather was, a type of ice cream sandwich," the human explained. "They weren't really that popular and were discontinued a few years back." She bent down and grabbed the blanket as if talking to a once-corrupted gem was the most normal thing to do in the room. She folded the blanket neatly and placed it on the coffee table.

Jasper watched the human girl and she finally recalled where she knew her. "I know you," she said. "You're that human that fused with the brat on the beach a few months back."

"And kicked your butt," the human girl added, earning a warning growl from the quartz gem. "My name is Connie by the way." Her eyes narrowed and her spine straightened in a show of strength. "You almost killed me."

The quartz gem raised an eyebrow and shrugged, a hand raising to cover a yawn. She watched as Lion climbed the stairs to lay on Steven's messy and empty bed. At least she didn't have to deal with the brat's insistent laughing, Jasper thought. "I have almost killed everyone in this temple," she stated matter-of-factly.

Connie cleared her throat, a look of disbelief crossing her features at how calm Jasper was. "Well, anyway, I'm here because of this." She reached into the backpack she brought with her and got out a book.

Jasper looked down at the presented book. It was blue with funky words on it but that was not what caught her attention. There was what appeared to be some sort of humanoid feline wearing a ridiculous drooping hat. Jasper took the book and studied the abomination. "What is this?" she asked with a disgusted sneer.

"It's a book," Connie said, tapping the cover once. "My mom told me that you couldn't read." She must have saw the confusion on Jasper's face because she explained a moment later. "My mom is your doctor. She took care of you."

The quartz gem looked at the human closer and could now see the resemblance between Dr. Maheswaranh and the runt. Jasper wondered for a moment if she was a gem that simply didn't have enough material to create a fully developed gem like Peridot but she realized that she didn't care. The runt was a runt, simple as that. She looked back at the book and opened it. The abomination was on nearly every page, along with two children and two … blue-haired creatures.

"I asked Pearl and my mother for permission and they agreed to let me teach you how to read," Connie finished when Jasper closed the book.

Jasper looked up at Connie and scoffed at her. She tossed the book onto the coffee table and laid back down, throwing an arm over her eyes to block the light streaming from the windows. "I am not going to learn from a human maggot." She could hear the Crystal Gem march over to her and felt a harsh prod on her chest. She raised her arm slightly to glare at Pearl.

"You will not call Connie a human maggot," Pearl said. She crossed her arms and nodded to the book laying forgotten on the table. "You need to learn how to read and Connie was nice enough to offer her services. The least you can do is show some gratitude and try to learn." She didn't even wait for Jasper to respond, she simply walked back and rummaged through the refrigerator to get various ingredients. "While you're reading, I will make you your smoothie."

Jasper grimaced at the thought of having to choke down whatever Pearl thought passed as a smoothie. She opened her mouth to retort that she couldn't be forced to drink anything the Crystal Gem made for her but instead she let lose a low hiss when she saw Connie sit down on the couch from the corner of her eye. A human runt was sitting on her couch. "Mine," she growled.

Connie looked as if she was about to take the easy road and get off the couch but after a moment she straightened her back again and reached out to grab the book. Her voice trembled at first but as Connie continued to talk, it became steadier and stronger. "If you aren't getting up, we will just have to share the couch while I'm here."

The quartz gem stared at the human girl. She was not even half her size and Jasper could easily shatter her from the face of this wretched planet. But, she still met her eyes with a will that said she wasn't going to back down from this. Jasper was impressed, she could definitely see the resemblance between the doctor and her creation. The runt most likely inherited her bravery when Dr. Maheswaranh created her. She glanced down at the book being clenched in Connie's hands, her knuckles bulging out from the tight grip. Jasper gave the barest of nods and Connie's hands immediately relaxed as a grin spread across her face.

"Don't worry, Jasper," Connie said. "Pearl told me that gems, even quartz gems, learn exceedingly fast so we only have to suffer each other's company for a few weeks." She handed Jasper the book and reached into the backpack to grab the other copy.

Jasper looked down at the cover and tilted her head. "What is that?" She pointed at the thing on the cover. It looked like a feline creature tried to fuse with a human, but it went horribly wrong. It didn't even have five fingers. "Is this… thing deformed?"

Connie glanced down at her own book and her lips quirked up into a smile. Soon, small chuckles escaped her as she answered. "No, that's one of the main characters." She reached over to point at the creature on Jasper's book. "His name is The Cat in the Hat. He looks like that because it's the author's art style."

"It's terrible," Jasper grunted. The quartz gem thumbed through the book and found more strange creatures drawn there. A whirling sound made Jasper look behind her and saw that Pearl was utilizing some sort of contraption. She witnessed the brat use it once or twice before and knew that the bigger foods went in it and some sort of liquid substance comes out. Jasper grimaced at the green color of the slush that the Crystal Gem was making, knowing she would have to consume it if she wanted to stay in this form.

"That looks very unappetizing," Connie said. Jasper looked back down at the human who shrugged. "Basic rule of thumb of food is that the more unappetizing something is, the healthier it is." She gestured back to the book. "Let's get started." Connie pointed at the words and read, "The Cat and the Hat. Okay, now you say it back."

Jasper glared down at her own book, the symbols meaning nothing to her. "This is stupid," she growled. "What can I possibly do if I even learned how to read. Jaspers were created to fight for and protect their Diamonds," the quartz gem trailed off in the end. She pushed her bangs out of her face and grimaced as one of her claws clicked against a horn. "Reading is useless for me."

Connie shook her head with a disappointed sigh. "Reading is not a useless skill, even for someone as physical as you." A finger tapped at the cover of the book. "Just get through this and I'll leave you to your couch."

A soft growl left Jasper's throat. "The Cat in the Hat," she grounded out, feeling ridiculous that she was allowing her time to be wasted with something as trivial as this. She could hear the gunk that Pearl had blended being slushed into a cup in the background and tried to prepare herself to swallow whatever abomination Pearl had made her.

Connie's mouth tilted up into another smile as she nodded. "Great," she said while pointing at one of the words on the cover. "Now, what is this word?"

"I have no fucking clue," Jasper said, her eyes going back to the cover.

"Don't swear in front of Connie," Pearl barked, marching over to the two on the couch with a glass full of the green gunk she created. The Crystal Gem handed Jasper the smoothie and frowned when the quartz gem sneered at the scent. "You have to drink it all, Jasper and don't complain."

Jasper took a sip of the gunk and gagged immediately after. She was tempted to throw it across the room or at least flush it down the toilet but Jasper knew that Pearl would simply make her another one, all the while squawking at her. Jasper forced herself to take another sip and placed the cup on the stand next to the alarm clock. She stared pointedly at Pearl who let out an annoyed breath before going back to the counter and sitting down on one of the stools to watch the two from the kitchen. The quartz gem rolled her eyes as she settled back on the couch with the stupid book. Jasper ignored the snickering from the human runt. She knew that not being able to read should mean nothing to her, absolutely nothing at all, but for some reason the fact that the human runt could read rather than her irritated the quartz gem. She was supposed to be the perfect quartz warrior and having a human being better at something than her was unacceptable. Jasper pointed at the word, "Cat," she said.

Connie shook her head. "Close, but the word is The." She pointed at the word after the one she said. "This is Cat." She opened the book and gestured for Jasper to do the same.

For three hours, quartz gem and human sat on the couch, reading the book painstakingly slow. Several times, Jasper gave in to her urge to snap her teeth at Connie when the human laughed as the warrior mispronounced a word or gagged at the taste of the smoothie, and immediately being nagged at by Pearl after for acting more like an animal than gem. But the two managed to get to the end of the story without a fight erupting or anything being broken. Jasper slammed the book shut when she finished the last page and tossed it back on the living room table. She reached out to take the cup only to find that it was empty.

"Thank the stars," Jasper muttered, unable to decide if she was more grateful that she finished the book or that she no longer had to drink the green gunk. She glanced down at the human and noticed that she looked out of place, apparently unsure of what to do now that the quartz finished the book. "You're still on my couch," Jasper growled, however it was less of a threat and more of a statement.

Connie more jumped off the couch than stood up from it. "Oh! Um, good job today," she said with an awkward grin. She placed her own copy of her book inside her backpack and shrugged it on. "I'll come back tomorrow with another book that we can work on."

Jasper grimaced at the words. "Another book?" she said with disdain laced in her voice.

"Going through one book doesn't mean you can read," Connie said. "Although, it's really amazing that you could read the last page by yourself, even if it took a few minutes."

Connie walked to the door before turning around and rushing over to the quartz gem. She quickly unzipped her backpack and rummaged around it for a few moments before she pulled out another book, this one much more thick than the last and without a drawing on the front. She gave it to Jasper and the gem flipped through some of the pages.

"There are no drawings," Jasper commented.

Another chuckle escaped Connie as she nodded. "That's because it's an actual novel." She gestured to the children's book on the table. "Think of it as a more advanced book. You can use it to practice when I'm not here." Connie reached over and tapped at the cover of the novel. "It's called Fangs of Love. I got it three days ago after Steven told me about the movie adaption but my mom said that it was too mature for me. Apparently, they toned down a lot of themes for the movie." Connie left after that and almost ran into Garnet who chose that moment to open the beach house door.

Garnet stepped aside so Connie could slip through before entering the beach house. She nodded in greeting to Jasper before walking over to the kitchen and writing something down on a sheet of paper. The fusion showed it to Pearl and the Crystal Gem read it with a deep frown.

Jasper looked at the novel and opened it to a random page. She could only make out a few of the words and the rest were still just scribbles. It took Jasper a few tries before she realized that she could not make sense of the sentences with the limited vocabulary she possessed. For some reason, the fact that she could not read the book irritated Jasper and she made it a goal to learn how to read the novel, if only to shove it in Pearl's face.

She placed the novel on the counter and turned her head at the sound of the temple door opening. Jasper caught sight of Pearl entering the temple, the paper wadded up in a clenched fist. She looked over to Garnet, wondering what the fusion could possibly have told Pearl to upset her so much. Garnet met her gaze and only gave her a thumbs up.

Jasper grumbled under her breath and grabbed her cup, once again realizing it was empty. She placed the cup back on the counter and laid down on the couch to resume sleeping, growling at how Connie's scent still lingered on her cushions. The gem made a mental note to have the reading sessions outside and away from her precious couch.


	7. Donut Break!

Jasper turned the page of the book that the human runt gave her. Connie just left the house after their reading session and had said that she was impressed with Jasper's advancements. Now the quartz gem could read at a tenth-grade level, although she didn't know what that meant. Jasper grimaced at a new word in her book and struggled to figure out what it was. After a few minutes of trying to sound it out in her head, Jasper slammed the book shut and tossed it onto the living room table. She reclined back into her couch, wondering if she would ever learn what the elusive word was or if it even mattered. _Fangs of Love_ proved to be an awful book, full of horrific puns and sex scenes that made Jasper want to puke.

The sound of the refrigerator closing brought Jasper's attention into the kitchen. Amethyst had her arms full with apparently a random assortment of foods, some of which Jasper doubted came from the fridge or should ever be placed in a mouth. The purple gem dropped her goods onto the table and began to create a crude version of a sandwich. Jasper sneered at the sight but she could not deny the rumbling of her stomach as Amethyst drowned her creation with ketchup.

As her ability to read grew every day, so did Jasper's appetite. She still could not digest solid foods but she was able to drink more of the smoothies, something Jasper could not decide if it was a good or bad thing. The quartz gem went back into her laying position and watched as the ceiling fan turned lazily. With every full cycle, Jasper's eyes fought to stay open longer.

"Hey, Jasper!"

Jasper groaned and rolled onto her side so that she did not have to face the brat bounding down the stairs. She felt one of Steven's hands shake her left arm in an attempt to gain her attention. Jasper glanced behind her shoulder to glare down at the smiling boy. "What do you want now?"

Steven was not deterred by the coldness in Jasper's voice. "I want to treat you to Big Donut!," he exclaimed, rocking on the heels of his feet. "Think of it as a reward for trying so hard at reading and not attacking Connie."

Jasper raised an eyebrow and considered her options. She could stay at the beach house just to spite the human brat. Perhaps she could even rake her claws against the couch, the gems having decided to trust Jasper enough that they removed the plastic from the furniture. However, she hadn't been outside since the hospital and it was getting stuffy in the house, since she had no clearance to enter the temple itself. Jasper sat up and sighed, grunting an affirmative before getting off the couch. The quartz gem more marched than walked over to the backpack shaped as some sort of human food. She believed that it was called a cheeseburger. Jasper zipped open the backpack and made sure that it held all of the medical equipment Dr. Mesawarhwan had given Pearl. She placed her book in one of the less full compartments before zipping it close and shrugging it on. If the brat tried to talk to her she could just start to read. The backpack easily weighed fifty pounds and Jasper was secretly glad for the weight, having nothing to keep her in shape.

The quartz gem exited the beach house without a glance at Steven, knowing that the boy would simply follow her outside. She leaned against the railing and lifted her face to the wind, taking a deep breath of the clean outside air.

"Steven! Hey, Steven!"

Any hope of peace was ruined by the high-pitched voice invading her sensitive ears. Jasper released a low growl and turned her head to watch as Steven ran down the stairs, laughing all the while. She should have known that there was a catch. Although she just wished that it wasn't in the form of the small green technician. Jasper shoved herself off the railing, smirking at the littering of cracks spreading across where her palms had abused the wood.

She walked over to the edge of the porch where the stairs began and sneered down at the sight of Steven embracing Peridot in a hug. The green gem returned the hug quickly with dark green cheeks, apparently still unused to Steven's lack of personal boundaries. Peridot's eyes glanced up and Jasper smirked down at the technician, barely biting back a chuckle when Peridot's face paled. Peridot ended the embrace and looked as if she wanted nothing more than to run away from the house and Jasper but Steven kept his hold tight.

Jasper walked down the stairs, each step causing Peridot to appear more and more uncomfortable with the entire situation. When Jasper reached the foot of the stairs, the quartz gem leaned against the cliff's face and looked down on Peridot.

Steven finally noticed that the green gem had become stiff in his arms and he ended the hug to look at her. He followed her wide eyes to Jasper and then grinned back at Peridot like it was no big deal that the quart gem was outside without any restraints or guardians. "Oh, did I forget to mention that Jasper is coming too?"

"Yes!" Peridot managed to squeak out. She took a step away from Jasper as her eyes flashed about, trying to find any metal that she could control to protect herself and Steven. When she found none, Peridot grabbed Steven's arm and placed herself between him and Jasper.

Steven only laughed and patted Peridot's back in a vain attempt to calm her. "You don't have to do that. Jasper is tame now, she won't hurt us."

Jasper growled at the choice of words and almost smirked at how Peridot instinctively took a step back which caused the technician to back into Steven. "I can hurt you both but I rather stay here than go back to that bubble." The quartz gem crossed her arms and sneered down at Peridot who gulped. "Now are you going to continue to act childish or are we going to move?"

Peridot's eyes hardened and she let go off Steven's arm. "I am not a child," she said. Even though Peridot stood straight and stared up at Jasper, a small tremor leaked into her voice. To hide any further discomfort and fear, Peridot turned her back on Jasper and started to march away, half-dragging, half-walking with Steven.

The quartz warrior was stunned by Peridot's sudden show of bravery at leaving her entire back exposed. Jasper glanced back at the beach house and then started to follow the duo as they strolled towards the boardwalk. She turned her head this way and that, analyzing and familiarizing herself with Beach City's layout. Jasper was unimpressed with the barbaric attempts of buildings and vehicles. Jasper also noticed that even though Steven and Peridot were well away from her reach, Peridot still made sure that she was behind Steven and in between him and Jasper. Jasper found the position rather annoying, especially when the human boy had to crane his neck around the green gem to yell something to Jasper, even though the quartz warrior could have heard him just fine if he had whispered it. Her eyes went back to the duo in front of her as Steven informed her what a car was. Each new thing that Steven pointed out to Jasper was responded with a grunt as the quartz gem thought about how inferior everything was compared to the technology on Homeworld.

"How are things?" Peridot finally spoke for the first time since the trio started walking. The tremor in her voice was gone but Jasper could easily read the unease in the way Peridot walked. The technician had her fingers splayed out and Jasper could tell that Peridot was feeling all the metal around them, ready to use it at her disposal at a moment's notice.

Steven had to turn around and walk backwards to answer Peridot. "Great! Garnet fixed the hole that Jasper created in the living room yesterday." One side of Jasper's lips twitched up in a smirk. She would have to find another spider to squash soon. "Oh, and Lion didn't try to sleep on top of Jasper last night."

Whatever smidge of joy that Jasper was feeling was snuffed out by the boy's last statement. She scowled and crossed her arms again, imagining wiping the confused look from Peridot's face when the gem looked back at her.

"Lion sleeps on Jasper?" Peridot asked Steven, looking back in front of her when she saw the nasty scowl Jasper was sending her.

Steven nodded. "He does most nights but this is the first time that he didn't!" He was practically skipping with all of his excitement. "Lion always wants to be around Jasper now but he would wake her up in the middle of the night when he laid on top of her. So, this was the first time that Jasper got her full eight hours."

Bullshit, Jasper thought to herself. Jasper placed a hand over her gem and felt the thump of her heart right underneath. Last night was the first where she didn't have any night terrors and gotten a full night's sleep. That damnable animal knew when she was having night terrors and would wake her up on purpose before she destroyed the house. Jasper was also aware that Steven knew when she had night terrors as well but so far the boy kept his observations to himself. The brat was annoying at times but Jasper had to admit that he knew when to keep his mouth shut.

Once again, Peridot turned her head to look at Jasper. "You sleep now?"

Jasper gave a simple grunt in response, not willing to disclose any information on her new form and its demands.

Steven frowned at Jasper's grunt and went to answer Peridot for the quartz gem. "Yeah, and she needs to eat and drink like me too. Her new form isn't all that stable so her gem doesn't give off enough energy." He gave a shrug like it was no big deal while Peridot halted to stare up at Jasper, her eyes trained on her nose where her gem used to be. For some reason, Jasper felt heat rise up on her cheeks as Peridot continued to study her face with a mildly concerned expression.

"What happens when you don't sleep or eat?" Peridot asked.

"I'm not sure," Jasper answered truthfully, her cheeks still flushed from Peridot's staring. She didn't understand why her body was reacting the way it was and Jasper hid her confusion with a grunt. "But I don't plan to find out." She glanced up at the building in front of them and released a sigh of relief. "We're here by the way so you can stop staring at me."

It was Peridot's turn to sport a blush and she coughed into a closed fist before crossing her arms behind her back. "Well, I was simply trying to discern whether you were a threat to humanity or not." She turned around and opened the door, her eyes glancing up to find the source of the responding ding. "We may continue on our endeavor."

Jasper rolled her eyes at Peridot's attempt to act calm and in charge. She marched past the green gem and looked about the store. She saw Steven rush past her and run directly to the glass container where all the different types of donuts were displayed. Jasper turned her head this way and that to look about, finding nothing that piqued her curiosity. She glanced down and saw that Peridot was staring at everything in awe, her eyes flashing from one object to the next within seconds.

Jasper rolled her eyes again and walked over to where Steven was still trying to decide which donut he wanted. She looked down at the two humans manning the counter. One was Steven's height and had blonde hair and was currently staring at her, or more accurately her horns. The other was taller and had his back to Jasper, completely unaware of her presence. The short one continued to stare at Jasper as she poked the other's back repeatedly, each poke becoming more and more aggressive.

"Sadie, will you quit that!" The man yelled out, turning to face the short one. "I'm actually trying to do work her-, what is that!?" he shrieked, reaching underneath the counter to grab something. His hand came back up with a chocolate covered donut and he pointed it at her.

Steven stood up from his kneeling position in front of the glass container. "Hey, its rude to call someone a 'that.'" He looked up at Jasper. "Her name's Jasper and this is her first time here so be nice." He pointed at the donut that the other male was still holding like a weapon. "Can I buy that, Lars?"

Lars slowly lowered the donut he was wielding, his eyes not straying from Jasper. Jasper narrowed her own eyes and felt someone watching her. She glanced down and saw Peridot also staring at her, a look of concentration on her face as her right hand was clenched into a tight fist. Her eyes streaked over to where a freezer holding something called Lion Lickers was floating a few centimeters above the ground, something that most people would not be able to see at one glance except if you were trained to notice such things. Realization dawned on Jasper's face and she almost smacked her forehead for not realizing it sooner. The gems sent Peridot to watch over her! The whole Peridot being surprised by her coming along was all an act. An errant growl forced its way out of her throat and she couldn't even feel the satisfaction of Lars and Sadie jumping in shock at the sound. The growling stopped and Jasper shook her head slowly, raising her hands, palms outward to show that she meant no harm. Peridot's eyes narrowed but she relaxed her fist, the freezer touching the ground without a sound. Jasper's hands fell back to her sides and she turned to face the humans once more.

"Sh-she's safe to be around, right?" Sadie asked, her hand fisting Lars's shirt.

"Yeah, but she does growl a lot." Steven gestured to the donut Lars was still holding. "Can I please buy that donut, Lars? I'm really hungry."

Lars glanced between Steven and Jasper a few times before he nodded slowly. "Uh, sure." He went about ringing up the donut and taking Steven's offered money, his eyes still flashing up to Jasper during the whole process. Jasper in turn glared down at the man, wondering if she could at least punch him without being sent back to the basement in a bubble or having a freezer thrown at her.

"Do you, um, want anything?"

It took Jasper a moment to realize that Lars was talking to her. She looked up at the menu but most of the foods were solids and she knew she couldn't risk eating something that may send her back to the hospital. Her stomach seemed to disagree with her as it grumbled quite loudly. The quartz gem felt a tug on her pants and she looked down to see Steven smiling up at her. She groaned, knowing that the human child wanted to order for her. She didn't say anything, only jerking her head up once to give him permission.

Steven's smile widened and he slapped down a five-dollar bill on the counter. "A large banana smoothie and make it chunky!"

A shudder ran through Jasper's spine. "I am tired of those smoothies," she said.

The smile dimmed a little. "But you'll like this one! It tastes really good and it isn't all that healthy for you." When Jasper still looked unconvinced, Steven continued with a sly smile, "Pearl wouldn't approve."

For some reason, that logic made the smoothie sound much more desirable than a moment before. "Fine," Jasper grunted. She watched with little interest as Sadie prepared the smoothie. At least this human had the decency not to glance at her every second. When the smoothie was done, Jasper was a little surprised that the concoction was not a nasty green color like the ones Pearl made her. She grabbed it and took an experimental sniff before sipping it. Her eyes widened in shock as the drink hit her tongue. She finished the drink in one huge gulp and slammed the cup down on the counter, not missing the other three staring at her in awe instead of fear and distrust. "Another!" she said. She had no idea that smoothies could taste so good! Jasper now had the suspicion that the pearl was intentionally making her smoothies taste so disgusting. One day she would make the gem pay but right now she wanted another smoothie.

"Uh, sure, that'll just be another two dollars since it's a refill," Sadie said. Lars was already preparing her drink when Steven handed over the correct amount.

Jasper eagerly grabbed the cup and once again downed the entire thing in one gulp. She looked down at Steven expectantly and the boy handed over another two dollars. Lars refilled the cup but as Jasper went to drink it, he set another smoothie in front of her.

"On the house," he said. He looked down at Sadie, "How much you want to bet that she can drink this one too without needing to take a breath?" Apparently seeing her drink a few smoothies was enough to convince the male that she was not going to hurt him.

Sadie glanced between Jasper who had finished her third cup and the one in front of the gem. "I don't gamble, especially when I know I'm going to lose."

Lars seemed discouraged for a moment but when Jasper reached for the last cup, he started to bang his fists into the counter. "Chug, chug, chug!" he chanted.

Jasper shrugged, feeling a bit smug with all the positive attention she was receiving. She upended the cup but when she drank half of the contents, a horrible pain took root in her brain. The quartz gem dropped the cup, spilling the smoothie onto the floor and a bit on Peridot's legs. She ignored the prompted yell and gripped at her head, yowling as the pain got worse. "What the fuck!? Shit!" she cursed.

"Don't swear in front of Steven!" Sadie chastised the gem.

Jasper hissed in pain and tried to rub at her temples to make the pain go away to no avail. She noticed that Peridot was no longer yelling at her but laughing at her, along with Lars and Steven. Jasper whirled her head around and tried to snarl at the green gem but ended up cursing more which caused Sadie to chastise her more which then caused the other three to laugh even harder. "I'll do whatever you say, just make the pain stop!" Jasper finally got out.

Sadie huffed and grabbed a half-empty bottle of soda from under the counter. "Drink some of this and then press your thumb to the roof of your mouth." She demonstrated for Jasper while the quartz gem quickly drank the rest of the bottle. Jasper did what she was told and the pain ceased after a few moments. She sighed in relief before glaring down at the still snickering Peridot.

Peridot was unfazed by the glare, a few giggles escaping the gem every few seconds. She sobered a little and wiped away a tear that formed at the edge of her eye.

Before Jasper could growl or hiss at her, she felt another tug on her pants. She looked down at Steven who was grinning up at her, a few splashes of banana smoothie dirtying his pants and shirt. "What do we say?" When Jasper did not answer, he gave the clothes another tug. "Come on, Jasper. Be nice."

Jasper growled low in her throat. "Thank you," she ground out.

"Huh," Peridot said, her head tilting a little to the left. "I guess an old gem can learn new tricks."

"Don't forget that Garnet isn't here to protect you," Jasper warned, baring her fangs and elongating her claws in a display of power.

Peridot gave a little meep and took a step back, accidentally kicking the forgotten cup and making more of a mess. "L-Lapis would be mad if you tried to hurt me," she said as her right hand clenched into a fist again. The freezer hovered above the ground but Jasper noticed that it was more unstable this time, floating back down before rising again, like Peridot was having trouble concentrating.

A low growl erupted from Jasper's throat but she allowed her claws to revert back to their normal length and covered her fangs. Jasper felt ridiculous that the mere mention of the water gem could make her heart thump faster and harder in her chest. Hiding her frustration, the quartz gem stomped out of the shop, feeling everyone's eyes trail after her. She leaned against the bike rail outside and waited for Steven and Peridot to come out. After a minute, the door dinged but Jasper didn't look behind her.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting," Steven said, walking up next to Jasper. He looked up at the quartz warrior and noticed the tense shoulders. "Hey, don't worry about the mess," he said, patting Jasper's hip in what he thought was a reassuring manner. The action only served to make Jasper grumble under her breath. "I made plenty of worse messes, like one time-"

Jasper started to tune Steven's voice out as he continued to talk about some fire crystals and donuts. The boy started leading the gems back to the outskirts of Beach City but Jasper noted that it wasn't in the direction of the temple. She looked around her new surroundings and realized with a start that they were walking towards the barn. Jasper's eyes skirted to Peridot and saw the green gem fidgeting with her fingers. Apparently Peridot also noted the direction Steven was leading them and she didn't like it. Jasper only hoped that the technician didn't give voice to her misgivings and have Steven take them back to the temple.

Whether it was because Peridot was trusting Jasper enough or more likely she was afraid of what Jasper would do, the green gem kept her mouth shut and eventually the trio could see the barn in the distance. Jasper felt the urge to sprint past the two but she managed to keep the pace she was going, knowing that displaying her eagerness might cause Steven to turn them around. Her eyes flashed across the building and landscape, hoping to catch a glimpse of the water gem. However, she could not find Lapis anywhere and the wind was not strong enough to carry her scent that far away to the group.

Before Jasper could possibly get close enough to look inside the barn, Steven stopped walking. He turned around and looked up at Jasper with a serious face. Jasper met his gaze and once again saw the knowing look in his eyes. She knew without a doubt that Steven knew that she was just barely able to keep herself still and not go off to look for Lapis.

"Okay, Jasper," he began, squaring his shoulders in an attempt to look more tough. "I understand that the others," he nodded towards Peridot who looked as if she was a second away from bolting to the barn, "don't trust you enough to do this but I know you. I know you won't hurt Lapis and I know that you won't hurt Peridot because that would upset Lapis." He turned his attention to Peridot. "You don't trust Jasper, I get that. She hurt a lot of people but she's different now."

Peridot frowned at Steven as if she was trying to figure out what Jasper was doing to make him say the things he did. "I don't think this is a good idea," she pleaded. "Let's just take her back to the temple and away from Lapis."

"So Lapis is there." Jasper took a step towards the barn but Peridot immediately went in her way. Jasper didn't growl or threaten Peridot, she simply bent down and picked up the green gem. There was no metal for Peridot to defend herself with. A series of punches and kicks came from the technician but Jasper ignored them all, looking down at Peridot. "Stop." The one word was enough to make Peridot cease her struggling against the bigger gem.

Steven frowned up at Jasper but did not say anything. He looked at Peridot and gave her an encouraging grin. "Don't worry, Peridot. I'll only be gone for a few minutes and if anything happens, you can call me from your tablet."

Peridot stayed limp in Jasper's grasp as she weighed her options. Sensing that she couldn't do anything else, she nodded with a resigned sigh. "Fine but if she breaks anything I'm holding you responsible." She slapped at the arm holding her. "And let me down!"

Surprising Peridot, Jasper let go of the green gem and watched as she fell down to the ground. Peridot quickly got back on her feet and brushed off any dirt that got on her uniform. Jasper looked back at the barn with a suppressed grin. Finally she could talk to Lapis.

"I'm going to go now, tell Lapis I said hi!" Steven called back as he began to run back to the temple. Jasper turned her head to watch him go, wondering not for the first time what made the human boy tick.

A cough brought her attention back down to Peridot. The technician was obviously very uncomfortable with being alone with Jasper. She resumed playing with her fingers as her eyes studied the dirt.

"You visited me at the hospital with Lapis," Jasper said, breaking the minute-long silence.

Peridot jumped at the statement like she didn't expect Jasper to remember that detail. Her cheeks turned a darker emerald as her fingers picked at one another. "I wanted to see the human contraptions."

"You already said that," Jasper responded.

Peridot nodded and rubbed at her arm as the blush deepened. "Yeah but I also wanted to, well, thank you for not barreling into me before. You probably would have poofed me with your, um," Peridot glanced at Jasper's horns, "you know."

Jasper's eyes widened but before she could respond, Peridot turned around and marched into the barn. She stayed where she was, her cheeks flushing once more as a hand absentmindedly touched her horn. Perhaps the humans had put something in her smoothie when she wasn't looking.


	8. Meep Morps

Jasper stayed where Steven had left her for a few minutes after the boy had run back to the temple. She just stood there, her mind blank and her shoulders stiff with the infinite possibilities that could occur if only she took a step towards the barn. She could faintly hear some tinkering from inside the building but she couldn't tell if it was Peridot or Lapis.

Lapis.

Jasper could feel her heart thumping in her chest from excitement. She was surprised that she couldn't hear it and the ground didn't shudder with each beat. But it also pounded with fear. She clenched and unclenched her hands, feeling claws threaten to break the skin of her palms on several occasions. Even if the claws pierced the skin, Jasper would probably not even notice the blood weeping from the wound. She was so close, finally able to talk to Lapis, to see her and touch her. A long whine rose up from Jasper's throat as the quartz gem began to pace. Back and forth, back and forth, but never making any progress to the barn. All she had to do is walk into the barn and demand that Lapis see her. But what if the gem used the pond full of water against Jasper and poof her. What if by poofing her, Lapis undid the healing process and Jasper became corrupted once more? The quartz gem shook her head, Lapis wouldn't do that, wouldn't use her powers against her. Not again. But what if she did? A hand raked through her hair, Jasper taking solace in the pain when one of the claws scratched at her scalp.

She was excited a moment before, wasn't she? Jasper groaned in frustration and she kicked at the ground, watching a small cloud of dust gather in the air. What was wrong with her? She was the strongest quartz gem that was ever created! She fought Rose Quartz and her rebels and lived to tell the tale. Jasper looked back at the barn and then at the direction where Steven had left. Before she could convince herself otherwise, Jasper turned and marched towards the barn, a determined frown on her face.

However, a light breeze halted Jasper in her tracks when she was a few feet away from the ajar doors. The scent of Peridot and whatever was in the barn filled her nose but there was not a hint of Lapis. Had the water gem flew off while Jasper was struggling between her two options? She must have. The quartz gem's shoulders slumped in defeat as she took the last few steps to enter the barn.

Peridot was indeed the one that was causing all of the tinkering sounds. The technician had her eyes closed with her arms raised up in the air. Her body was shaking with how focused she was, a light sheen of sweat making her skin glisten. Peridot was using her metal powers to construct something that looked like a mix between a lion and wolf with rusty scraps she must have found lying about in the barn. Already there was a rough outline of the animal but there was a lot more work to be done. Jasper shrugged off the cheeseburger backpack and let it hit the floor without any care. The gem turned her head to look at Jasper, the metal that was once floating in the air crashing down and adding even more dents to the surface.

Jasper ignored the smaller gem, however. She was too busy taking in the building that Lapis now called a home. She watched the different fish swim about in a tank that covered one of the walls, a cylindrical structure that did not belong with the barn jutting out from the other side. Some green stuffed alien with a tophat floated by, stuffing coming out of the rip at its neck. Jasper narrowed her eyes in confusion but something else caught her attention. To the left of the fishtank was a stick with which three objects hung from, each connected to the stick by a string. Jasper didn't have any idea what the objects were but they all carried Lapis's scent. Next to the stick was a mound of dirt with a lone leaf sticking on top. Even if Lapis's scent wasn't on it, Jasper knew she would recognize the creation belonging to the water gem. A finger came up to touch the leaf that reminded Jasper of her old gem but something stopped her. It wasn't hers.

"I just feel trapped."

The quartz gem turned her head to look at the last of Lapis's creations. She walked over to it to get a better look. It was something that she thought Steven called a television showing a human boy wearing a green camper's uniform. He would repeat the statement, "I just feel trapped," over and over again. Two mirrors stuck out of the television, both angled so that they captured the boy's face. A growl rumbled in Jasper's chest as the phrase continued to be repeated, her hand closing into a fist as she fought the urge to ram her horns into the horrible contraption.

"Don't," was the only warning Peridot gave Jasper. The quartz gem looked behind her and saw that Peridot had moved to the middle of the room, a hand raised. Several of the shrapnel she was using earlier twitched on the ground.

Jasper let out a huff of annoyance but she left Lapis's last creation alone. She sniffed at the air with her eyes closed, trying to find anything that would help her figure out Lapis's whereabouts. When she couldn't find any, Jasper leapt up onto the second floor of the barn. There was a mattress placed seemingly without thought in the middle of the floor but there was nothing else of real importance on the bare floor. Jasper walked to the mattress and took a deep breath. She could smell Lapis and reasoned that this was where she rested. Her head tilted to the left at another scent and she buried her face into the mattress, taking an even deeper breath. "Peridot?" Peridot's scent was definitely there, but why would the two gems share the same mattress? Jasper shook her head to clear it and took another sniff. The two scents were old, perhaps a few weeks. With a snarl, Jasper walked to the edge of the floor and leapt down to the first floor, landing on all fours with a thud and causing everything to shake for a moment. She straightened her back, her fangs bared as she hissed at Peridot.

"Lapis isn't here," Peridot admitted. The gem looked up at Jasper with tired eyes, not reacting to the hiss like Jasper expected. The green gem shrugged like it was no big deal that she deceived Jasper and walked back to inspect her sculpture.

"I know," Jasper responded, tapping her nose. A frustrated sigh left her mouth as she sat down on the blue hammock strung up between two poles. It gave a weary creak at Jasper's weight but it held. "I should've known she wouldn't be here." Her eyes bore into Peridot's back as she growled, "You told her."

Peridot whirled around to glare at Jasper, the shrapnel she had just placed on the sculpture falling back down with a rejected crash. She looked absolutely enraged. Her cheeks flushed with anger as her hands clenched into trembling fists. Jasper doubted that Peridot could even lift a nail to defend herself with her mind clouded with this much anger. "Of course I didn't tell her, you clod! She wasn't here to tell!" The gem was too upset at the accusation to think better her words. "You think you're the only one that misses her?" Peridot's eyes widened as a hand slapped against her mouth but the damage was already done.

"What?" Jasper's head reared back.

With a few steps, Peridot was right in front of Jasper. Any fear that Peridot had displayed for the bigger gem was replaced with anger. She pointed at her as she yelled, "She left because of you! Right when we got back from that hospital, Lapis just flew away!" The anger diminished as Peridot's eyes dulled with sadness. A hand quickly reached up to brush away a stray tear. "She didn't even say goodbye."

"And you didn't think to mention this to anyone?" Jasper managed to growl out. Lapis had been gone for more than a month and Peridot didn't bother to tell anyone. The quartz gem got off of the hammock and began to pace throughout the barn. She had too much energy to stay still. Jasper was playing nice for so long and right when she was about to be rewarded, she comes to find out that that person had been long gone. "Why?" Jasper demanded an answer.

Peridot didn't say anything for a few long moments, instead playing with her fingers as she looked up to the second floor as if Lapis was going to appear any second. The green gem looked down and muttered, "Lapis is several thousands of years old, she can handle herself."

The response didn't calm Jasper. She marched over to Peridot and bent down so that they were eye level. When Peridot tried to turn her head, Jasper gripped her chin to force her to look into her piercing eyes. Peridot grabbed at the hand and used all her strength to push it away but Jasper gave her chin a light squeeze, warning her. The green gem stilled and looked at Jasper's eyes with her own. Jasper could see the walls being constructed in the green eyes but she could also see the shock at the gentle touch Jasper was giving her. The quartz gem almost scoffed, she wasn't that stupid to leave marks. Jasper continued to stare into Peridot's eyes, trying to read what the technician was hiding.

"Why?" she repeated.

Peridot glanced away but Jasper didn't give her chin another squeeze. The quartz gem knew she had Peridot cornered. Jasper followed Peridot's eyes to the last of Lapis's creations. She looked back at Peridot and waited for the green gem to answer. "She just," Peridot began, looking down at the hand that kept her there, "she needed time to think and I didn't want to interfere." Jasper frowned at the concern that leaked into Peridot's voice. Her eyes lifted to meet Jasper's and they hardened. "If I had told anyone, you would have found out somehow and force me to take you to her." Peridot gave the hand another shove and Jasper let go of her, watching her fall to the floor. Peridot glared up Jasper and got to her feet. When Jasper didn't do anything except meet her gaze, Peridot threw her arms out. "Well? Aren't you going to try to hurt me? I knew Lapis left and I didn't tell anyone."

Jasper's head tilted to the left. The thought of shattering Peridot didn't even enter her mind. "No," she said simply, returning to her spot on the hammock.

The two stayed quiet after that, both just studying one another. Jasper could hear the world continue outside the barn, the wind brushing against the leaves that had fell, the small laps of the pond hitting the grass, and a few birds chirping as they flew about. None of it held any interest for the gem. The one thing that did was gone and the peridot currently standing in front of her didn't know where she was. Jasper's eyes narrowed suddenly as she once again left the hammock. "You know where she is," she said.

Peridot didn't show any reaction but Jasper knew she was right. "You know," she repeated, taking a step forward. "Where is Lapis?"

"I don't know," Peridot said, her voice full of uncertainty as she corrected herself. "I'm not sure but I have an idea of where Lapis might go." She straightened her back and stared up at Jasper with crossed arms and a determined look on her face. "But I'm not going to tell you."

"Why not?"

Green eyes widened in shock at the question. "Because if I tell you, you're going to go after her!"

Jasper didn't bother even trying to lie. "You're right. I've waited months to see her and now that I finally get to," a hand lifted to indicate the barn, "she isn't here and you're hiding her whereabouts from me." Her voice lowered to a whisper, gentle enough that Peridot's eyes swerved from the second floor to look at the quartz gem. "If you really miss Lapis so much, come with me and we'll bring her back."

The hope brewing in Peridot's eyes twisted something in Jasper's stomach but the quartz gem didn't know what. "You just want to talk to her?" Peridot asked.

"I don't know," Jasper answered honestly. "Right now I want to see her and I know that you do too."

Peridot thought about what Jasper said for several minutes. She could sense that the quartz gem was telling the truth but it was still very risky to tell her where Lapis might be hiding. Her eyes glanced up at the second floor where Lapis usually sat reading or pretending to sleep. She looked back at Jasper, her eyes resting on the horns before sliding down to look at the new markings on her arms. Finally, she looked at Jasper's eyes. They were the only thing that hadn't changed, at least physically. They were still as yellow and intense as before but there was something desperate in them now. "Fine," she said at last with a sigh. Peridot walked to the barn doors and looked back at Jasper who hadn't moved, still waiting to learn where Peridot thought Lapis flew off to.

Peridot pushed her visors back up before talking again. "We're going to Mask Island."

Jasper almost regretted asking where Peridot thought Lapis was. "You think that-"

"Yes," the green gem interrupted, glaring up at the bigger gem, "I think she went to the place where she lost control of Malachite."


	9. What Have I Done? What Have YOU Done?

Jasper stayed still in front of the door of the beach house. Peridot was fidgeting next to her but at least she was quiet. The quartz gem's eyes remained closed as she listened for any sounds inside the building for several minutes. Finding none, Jasper opened the door and entered, walking straight to the warp pad. She had to wait a few moments for Peridot to gain the courage to enter the house and to head over to the device. The green gem looked like she was about to get sick or run away screaming or perhaps both. She placed a shaky hand on the warp pad and immediately her eyes were no longer green but rather linked to the warp pad's system, thousands of bits of information flying across her irises. She frowned in concentration as she tinkered with the device's lock with her technopathic powers. Jasper watched Peridot work, impressed that the green gem did not need her limb enhancers to gain access to the pad's inner workings and reactivate it.

"There," Peridot said after five minutes. She removed her hand and got on the pad itself. The technician took a deep breath to calm her nerves before glancing up at Jasper. At the focused look on the quartz gem's face, Peridot's calm façade broke as she resumed playing with her fingers. "I'm starting to have second thoughts. Lapis is probably flying about over the ocean and no- Agh!"

Before Peridot could deactivate or even get off the warp pad, Jasper activated it and a tunnel of light surrounded the two. They floated in nothingness for a few moments before the light and beach house disappeared. They were now standing in the middle of a jungle, shaded by the large canopies. Jasper looked down at Peridot who's eyes wouldn't stop roaming their surroundings as if anything was going to pop out from the shadows and attack them.

"We're here," Jasper said, stepping off the warp pad and heading in a seemingly random direction. She heard frantic running behind her and knew that Peridot decided to follow her instead of warping back to the temple and warning the others.

"We shouldn't be here," Peridot whispered, closing the space between her and Jasper even more. She looked up at Jasper and noticed that the quartz gem was sure with her steps, like she knew exactly where to go. Peridot did not know whether to find the thought comforting or unnerving. She never went to Mask Island herself so she wasn't sure where Jasper was leading her. Peridot suddenly wished that she was back at the barn where everything stayed the same and there was metal that she could protect herself with. She should have at least brought her tablet.

Jasper turned her head to look at the smaller gem and saw the confliction playing on her face. "This is more important than whatever ridiculous notion you may have about this place." Even as the words left Jasper's mouth, her stomach coiled into painful knots. She knew where Lapis would be on this island and going there meant meeting some very unpleasant creatures. Many of which wanted her dead.

"W-where are we going?" Peridot finally asked. She looked about and could have sworn that she seen the tree with a chunk of bark missing eight minutes ago. Peridot worried that Jasper was lost and leading them in circles. A shaky hand pushed up her visors as she gulped. What if she never got back to the warp pad and Lapis showed up at the barn with Peridot walking aimlessly on Mask Island?

"We're going to a beach on the island," Jasper answered. She halted and lifted her head, taking a long sniff before turning left. She glanced down and saw that Peridot was unconvinced. "I know where I'm going."

Peridot shook her head and pushed up her visors again. "How? This forest probably goes on for miles!" She pointed to a tree to the left, this one having three gouges scarring the trunk. "I saw that tree before! We're lost!" she yelled, her hands gripping her hair. Peridot began to pace back and forth as she continued her tirade. "We're lost and it's my fault! I should have stayed at the barn and sent you back to the temple! I shouldn't have reactivated that warp pad! What if Steven finds out?" Her eyes widened considerably as she stopped pacing. "What if Garnet finds out?" She turned around and stared up at Jasper fear paling her face. "She's scary when she's angry and she'll probably tie me to the fence again. I don't want to be on a leash!"

Jasper rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "That fusion won't find out and neither will the brat. Besides, he thought Lapis was in the barn so he shouldn't care if we're going after her. We'll find Lapis and get back before anyone realizes we're gone." The quartz gem gestured to the tree that Peridot pointed out earlier. "We've never seen that tree and I do know where I'm going."

"How do you know where you're going!?"

"Because I remember." Jasper hesitated before adding, "I remember being Malachite and seeing the jungle from the beach. If we keep heading west, we'll eventually hit the beach and then all we have to do is look for Lapis." Jasper ducked her head as she walked under a tree branch, hissing in agitation when her horns scratched into the bark. She looked down at the green gem, expecting Peridot to make some smartass joke or at least snicker. However, the technician was too busy looking around them in search of the water gem to realize what Jasper just did.

"You care for Lapis a lot," Jasper commented, bending low to avoid another branch, this time taking great care that her horns did not scrape against it.

"We live together so of course I care about her!" Peridot said, sounding a little offended at Jasper's casual statement. Even as she talked, her eyes did not cease their searching but her cheeks did become a shade darker.

Jasper scoffed at the explanation. "I live with the pearl and I know for a fact that she is waiting for any reason to fight me." Her lips lifted into a feral smile as her claws itched to be dragged across something. "Perhaps I'll give her one after we find Lapis."

Peridot's eyes finally settled on the bigger gem. "You really think that is a good idea?" she asked in disbelief. "You want to help me find Lapis, bring her back home, and then get in a fight with Pearl?"

A nod was her response. "It's been too long since I've had a fight." Jasper frowned soon after as a hand lifted to brush through her hair. "Although, the pearl wouldn't be much fun since she's weak."

A small chuckle escaped Peridot before she could stop it. "Amethyst told me that Pearl makes up for her lack of physical strength with speed and willpower. She's also smart too and I suppose you can say she is an adequate strategist." Her chest puffed up as she declared, "Not as great as me of course."

Jasper suddenly stopped walking and Peridot bumped into her. Before the green gem could share a few choice words, she was silenced by the warning rumble that shook Jasper's chest. For a moment, Peridot thought that the growl was directed at her but she noticed that Jasper faced straight ahead with her eyes flashing from one spot to another as if they were searching for something.

"J-Jasper?" Peridot took a step closer to the quartz gem and tried to peer into the shadows of the forest. She couldn't see anything but she knew that Jasper did and whatever she saw she didn't like. Peridot glanced up at her and gulped at the feral look on Jasper's face. Her deadly fangs were bared as a growl continuously left her mouth and her eyes were piercing and angry. Peridot had no doubt that Jasper was ready for a fight and whatever was causing this reaction from the quartz gem was about to be shattered.

"Stay behind me."

Peridot almost let out a squeak at Jasper's voice. She didn't think that Jasper could form a coherent sentence at this point. The quartz gem bent down until her hands were touching the ground. She stalked a few feet ahead, her body staying low to the ground as if she was some tiger about to pounce on her prey. Peridot would have found the entire situation hilarious if she wasn't so freaked out now. She scrambled over to Jasper but a low hiss made her stop. She tried to look at whatever made Jasper upset but she still couldn't see anything past the vegetation. Peridot cocked her head when she started to faintly hear drums beating in the distance. She glanced at Jasper who was still stalking forward carefully like she was cautious of making any noise at all.

The two continued to travel like this, Jasper on all fours walking like a big and dangerous cat and Peridot trying her hardest to catch up with her and still be quiet. The sound of beating drums grew louder and Peridot could now hear indistinctive voices. She knew they were getting close to something but she had no idea why Jasper was leading them towards it.

"We should go around them," Peridot whispered to Jasper. When she didn't get a response, she huffed and reached out to tug at Jasper's shirt or hair to get her attention. A moment later however, her hand fell to her side. Peridot knew that it was better to simply follow Jasper, no matter how strange the quartz gem was acting, than to try to fight her and wind up poofing without finding Lapis.

SNAP!

Peridot couldn't help the little shriek at the sudden sound of a dry twig snapping under her foot or how Jasper's head whipped around to glare at her with slit pupils. She was about to apologize when the sound of drums abruptly stopping and hurrying caused her throat to close. Peridot just alerted whoever Jasper was stalking of their presence and might even cost them their lives. Jasper rose up on her two feet and bent forward so that her horns were ready to ram into anything. Her fingers curled into savage claws as her body tensed.

A minute passed and nothing happened. No monster leapt out of the shadows and Jasper didn't go in charging and left Peridot exposed. The quartz gem's chest rose and fell as she took heavy breaths, presumably trying to distinguish how many enemies were nearby their scents.

Finally, the underbrush in front of the two gems rustled and Jasper released a battle cry that sounded more like a roar of a deranged animal. Peridot shivered at the sound, infinitely glad that she wasn't the one that had to face the once-corrupted gem.

The underbrush continued to rustle until something jumped out of it. Rather than a corrupted gem or any other horrifying monster, a watermelon in the shape of a dog ran up to the two, barking happily all the while. He sprinted to Jasper and jumped at the quartz gem's legs, his tail thumping on the ground. Jasper stared down at the watermelon dog in confusion, her fangs still bared for a fight.

Peridot peaked from her hiding spot behind Jasper's body and watched the watermelon dog pant and try to climb Jasper. "You were chasing that!?" Peridot had the sudden urge to punch and kick Jasper. "I thought we were going to be attacked!"

Jasper still didn't say anything, staring down at the dog. She slowly relaxed her stance and watched as the dog ran in circles, trying to catch its own tail. "I uh," she said perplexed. Her eyes flashed back up as the underbrush rustled once more. Three watermelons walked out of the vegetation, each in the rough shape of Steven and each carrying a spear. When they caught sight of Jasper, they all dropped their weapons and ran up to the quartz gem. They stopped a foot away from her and stared up at her with their seed eyes. One stepped away from the group and laid a hand on Jasper's knee. It started to pat Jasper's leg and the two others quickly joined in. They patted her as if they couldn't believe that Jasper was truly there. After a few pats they started to hug her legs. "What is going on?" Jasper asked, completely confused by this turn of events. She had expected the watermelon creatures to attack but they were hugging her! She had no idea of what to do and she looked down at Peridot.

Peridot however was too busy staring at the creatures with a slack jaw and wide eyes. She snapped out of her stupor and shrugged helplessly. "I have no idea but they seem to like you."

"But why?" Jasper asked, bending down to push away the watermelon Stevens. When she started to push two of the watermelon Stevens, they simply started to hug her arms. She had no clue how to get them to stop hugging her. "They should be trying to shatter me, not embracing me! Malachite-"

At the name of the fusion, the watermelon Stevens opened their eyes and as one hissed angrily.

"Maybe we shouldn't use that name around here," Peridot suggested once the hissing stopped.

Jasper was about to agree when she felt a tug on her hand. One of the watermelon Stevens gave her arm another tug before letting go and running forward. The other two and dog quickly followed the leader. "I think they want us to follow them," Jasper said, still unsure of what was happening.

Peridot nodded in agreement and the two started to walk where the Stevens had been running. After a few minutes, they walked onto a freshly plowed field. Several other Stevens were towing the soil and at the sight of Jasper, rushed over to her to start the process of patting and hugging her. More and more watermelon Stevens came over to pat and hug Jasper like it was a ritual of some sort. Small watermelon Stevens had necklaces of flowers in their hands and tried to get Jasper to wear them.

Jasper growled lowly as the sound of laughter reached her ears. She looked down at Peridot who seemed to have broken her silence to laugh at Jasper. The sound brought the attention of the Stevens away from Jasper however and on to Peridot. The laughter immediately stopped and Peridot's eyes widened in fear. She tried to move closer to Jasper but the Stevens were too quick. They pulled her into a tight hug with Peridot becoming stiff and her cheeks flaming a brilliant forest green. "Jasper help," she squeaked, struggling against the watermelons' holds.

The quartz gem would have gladly left Peridot to the watermelons devices for the way that the green gem had laughed at her but she needed her to help find Lapis. Jasper reached down and picked up Peridot by the nape of her uniform. Peridot grabbed onto Jasper's arm like it was a life preserver and stared down at the Stevens, fearing that they would jump up and grab her. With the technician out of reach, the Stevens resumed their hugging of Jasper's legs. Jasper simply endured the touching, figuring that it was a smidge better than fighting all of them. She could have easily destroyed them but she didn't want to find Lapis covered in goop.

"Why do they like you so much?" Peridot asked, still clinging to Jasper's arm. She scooted herself up so that she was now hanging from Jasper's neck like she was some sort of living back pack. If Jasper wasn't paying so much attention to the watermelon Stevens she would have thrown Peridot off or at least growl at her. Peridot had to move some of Jasper's hair to the side so she could look down at the watermelons. They had stopped hugging Jasper and was now peering up at the both of them. Peridot wished that they had gone back to the hugging, the seeds for eyes were very unnerving, especially when they don't blink. "Didn't you try to destroy them as Malachite?" Peridot whispered to Jasper.

The Stevens heard the whisper however and as one hissed at the name. Jasper whimpered in pain at the sound, it was much louder now there were at least twenty watermelon Stevens instead of just three hissing. She raised her fists but after a few moments the hissing stopped and the Stevens resumed their staring. Jasper relaxed her hands as it finally occurred to her that the watermelon Stevens didn't associate her with Malachite. To them, the fusion and Jasper had nothing to do with one another. Jasper shook her head in wonderment, these creatures weren't attacking her because to them she was a stranger! She grunted when Peridot yelped at the sudden movement and gripped at Jasper's hair for support.

"Stop tugging," Jasper yelled at Peridot who stilled, her hand still clenching Jasper's hair however.

"Stop moving around then!" Peridot yelled back.

Jasper growled at her but it was cut short by a tug of her hair. She was about to grab Peridot and leave her at the mercy of the watermelon Stevens but movement caught her attention. The Stevens looked at each other and moved so that an aisle was created that led to the two gems. Another watermelon walked through the aisle but this one was much older than the others and wore a straw hat and dress. He walked up to the two of them and lifted his stick to point at Jasper, the seeds rattling inside the dry fruits at the end. He turned around and started to walk away, the other watermelons cheering as he went but not leaving their spots.

Having no other choice, Jasper began to follow the old watermelon. He led them through a village of some sorts. Watermelon Stevens all stopped what they were doing to look at the two gems. They would run up and give Jasper a quick pat and hug before moving away so another Steven could do the same. Jasper was now used to the strange ritual and took her time to look around, hissing when Peridot would accidentally pull on her hair whenever she turned her head too quickly. Occasionally a family of Stevens would leave their straw houses and their child would try and pat Peridot as well as Jasper, but Peridot was well out of their reach.

"Where is he taking us?" Peridot asked.

Jasper had a feeling she knew but she shrugged like she didn't. The two entered the village's center and saw a half-destroyed statue of a watermelon Steven baby. Half of his face was gone and his left arm was embedded into the ground a few feet away. The leader turned his head and looked pointedly at Jasper. The quartz gem met his gaze and lifted her chin. The others may have made the distinction of Jasper and Malachite being two separate beings but the leader knew better. Still, he simply shook his head and continued his trek without calling any attention to the trio.

"Jasper, look." Peridot pointed off to the statue's side and Jasper turned her head to look. There were several mounds of dirt and on each mound was a necklace made of pink roses. There had to be at least thirty mounds where a farm could have been created or several straw houses. Jasper had no clue of what purpose the mounds served and knew that Peridot didn't either. Something told her that she was the cause of the mounds and for some reason, guilt chewed at her belly. Jasper pushed the feeling away and studied the roses, wondering where the Stevens found them on this island.

Rattling brought the gems attention back to the leader. He had lead them to a cliff at the edge of the village. Jasper grimaced at the cliff and looked over at the water. The leader had led them to where they had once sacrificed the Stevens to Malachite. She looked down at the leader. He nodded his head once and lifted his arms to imitate the statue in the village's center. He left the two of them to go back to the village without another word.

Peridot let go of Jasper's shoulders and jumped down to the ground. She looked about in search of Lapis but Jasper was still staring at where the leader had left them with a frown. Peridot walked this way and that, looking down the cliff and at the nearby vegetation. "Lapis isn't here!" Peridot finally said after five minutes of fruitlessly searching. She marched in front of Jasper and pointed in the direction of the village. "He led us on a wild goose chase!"

"No," Jasper said, turning her back towards Peridot. She marched to the edge of the cliff and kneeled down to look at its face. She could still see the gouges on the rock from her battle with Alexandrite. "He led us here because Lapis is here."

"Where?" Peridot asked. "There's nothing here but a few rocks and sand! We're lost!"

Jasper glanced at Peridot and then went back to surveying the landscape. "We can't see her because she's not on the island."

"But you just said she was here!" Peridot took a deep breath to calm herself and fixed the visors that had become skewed. "Where then is Lapis Lazuli?"

The quartz gem turned her head to look at Peridot. Even though the green gem tried to act calm and collected, Jasper could easily read the worry in her eyes. Jasper sighed and pointed to the ocean. "She's there. She's protected in water and can defend herself with the entire ocean if she must."

Jasper got back up on her feet and bent down to pick up Peridot. Peridot gave a squeak and slapped Jasper's arms but the quartz gem held on. Ignoring the curses that Peridot was hurtling at her, Jasper jumped off the cliff. The curses turned into a terrified scream and instead of punching Jasper, Peridot gripped at her shoulders and buried her head into her chest. Jasper landed with a thud on the beach and let go of Peridot. The green gem had such a strong grip on her that she didn't fall down on the sand. Peridot was panting wildly as she glared at Jasper.

"Don't ever do that again!" Peridot yelled, letting go and landing on her feet.

"It was the quickest way off the cliff," Jasper said, her eyes scanning the water around her. She knew Lapis was there and knew that they were there thanks to Peridot's scream. She took a step forward but backtracked as two hands made of water rose from the ocean. Jasper gulped at the sight of the ice-tipped fingers, feeling her heart pound at the thought of what they would do if they landed a hit on her.

Peridot didn't seem to notice the danger they were in because she ran towards the hands, calling out Lapis's name all the while. A third hand snaked out of the ocean and slammed into the beach, separating Jasper and Peridot.

"What are you doing here!?"

Jasper almost smiled at the voice until she realized that the question was directed towards Peridot. She could just barely make out a figure walking out of the ocean and Peridot running towards her. Jasper growled and tried to walk around the barrier but it grew and icy spikes formed from the surface. She stopped and could hear Peridot talking to Lapis and perhaps gesturing towards Jasper but she couldn't make out the words. The wall faltered and slowly receded back to the ocean, revealing Peridot and Lapis.

Lapis looked horrible. Her skin was a dull blue and there were bags under her eyes. But worse was the way she was looking at Jasper. She looked at the quartz with such hatred but Jasper knew that it was to cover an even more dangerous emotion. Fear. Jasper held her hands up in a display of peace.

"I just want to talk," she said.

"No," Lapis turned around and started to head back to the ocean. "Just go." She looked down at Peridot. "You should go too." Lapis had to turned her head away from the hurt expression and two wings of water sprouted from her back.

Jasper growled and charged at Lapis. When she was a few feet away, she stopped, her eyes watching the hands movements. They stayed where they were but she knew that it wouldn't take them even a second to rip her apart. "I came all this way to see you and I'm not going to let you run away again." Lapis still hadn't turned around and Jasper snapped. "Look at me damn it!"

Lapis whirled around and Jasper took a step back on instinct. The water gem looked so tired but also very angry. "Why can't you just leave me alone!? I don't want you, can't you get that!?" She took a step towards Jasper and several more hands rose from the ocean. "Do I have to shatter you for you to finally leave me be?" When Peridot tried to say something, Lapis looked at her. "Don't get involved."

"I'm already involved," Peridot said incredibly. "I'm the one that reactivated the warp pad so we can come here and bring you home!" Peridot looked close to tears but she wiped angrily at her eyes before yelling, "I'm the one who brought Jasper here because obviously you wouldn't come back if it was just me!"

"Just you?" Lapis repeated. The hands began to lose form and dissolved back to the ocean. Lapis turned so that she was fully facing Peridot. "I needed to be alone. I thought you knew and understood that."

"Of course I know that but it doesn't change the fact that you left without saying anything." A few tears did spill from Peridot's eyes and she slapped Lapis's hand when it reached out to brush them away.

Lapis flinched at the slap even though there was no way that it could have hurt her. The water that formed her wings fell onto the sand, forgotten. She looked down at the silently crying gem with conflicted eyes before whirling around to scream at Jasper. "This is your fault! If you just stayed corrupted in that bubble none of this would be happening!"

Even Peridot was shocked by the venom in Lapis's voice. Jasper felt her heart plummet but another emotion quickly overtook her pain with its intensity. A furious snarl ripped out of Jasper's throat as she stormed over to Lapis. She glared down at her as she poked her chest, too angry to feel satisfaction when Lapis stumbled back. "My fault? You think you're so innocent!?" She jerked her head down at Peridot who was now watching the two with a fearful expression, unsure of what was going to happen. "You're as much responsible for this as I am," Jasper growled. When Lapis's eyes faltered for a moment, Jasper knew she hit the jackpot. "You cannot continue to pretend that those months never occurred. You can't pretend that Malachite never existed!"

"Stop," Lapis whispered, taking a step back.

The quartz gem knew she was probably going to regret saying the things she did but right now she couldn't care less. Lapis had no right to act like she did nothing wrong, like she had nothing to do with every tear that fell out of Peridot's eyes.

Jasper only took a step forward, not fearful of the fact that Lapis had the entire ocean at her disposal. "No," Jasper snarled. After all this time just waiting, Jasper was not going to stop. Not until she had her say in all of this. "You don't get to act like a victim of circumstance, not when I'm still here." Jasper rested a hand over her chest and felt her heart pound. "I have done some terrible things in my lifetime but I have the balls to admit it! I attacked you and interrogated you when you arrived on Homeworld defenseless and alone! I used the information I extracted from you to come back to this fucking planet so I could destroy it and anything that would otherwise remind me of my failure to stop that rebellion eons ago. I even tried to use you to in the form of Malachite to shatter the Crystal Gems and that brat!" She pointed at Lapis with a vicious grin. Her arm began to hurt as if lava was flowing through her veins instead of blood but the rage Jasper felt overruled it. "But you used me instead! You used Malachite as my own prison. As my own personal hell! You hurt me every minute I was stuck as Malachite! I only wanted control of Malachite so I could end it but each time I was close to overpowering you, you used the ocean to break me and pull me back under you. I was trapped for all those months and I couldn't do a fucking thing about it!"

"Stop!" Lapis yelled, backing further away. The water was now lapping up at her feet but none of it came to her defense. She didn't try to summon her powers or fly away. Some part of her knew that she needed to listen to Jasper but Lapis just wanted Jasper to stop talking. She glanced down at Peridot who was staring at Jasper in shock, unable to stop hearing how dangerous Lapis really was. Lapis closed her eyes and shook her head. She was going to lose Peridot if Jasper kept talking but she couldn't make her stop.

"Do you want to know why you were able to keep me there?" Jasper continued. She didn't wait for the water gem to answer. "Because a part of me knew that I deserved to be trapped on this miserable planet! I was created here, in a reject of a kindergarten! I wasn't able to protect my Diamond, I wasn't able to do the one purpose I was created for! I couldn't stop Rose Quartz from shattering her or stop her rebel army from taking earth from Homeworld." Jasper panted and the pain grew from her arm to her chest. Every breath was like swallowing glass but Jasper continued, "I was a failure as a soldier so I let you take me as your prisoner. I took everything you gave, all the insults, all of the abuse, because I thought that I deserved nothing less!"

"Shut up!" Lapis screamed, her hands covering her ears so she wouldn't have to hear Jasper. She didn't want to be reminded of what she was capable of, of what she had already done.

Lapis attempt to block out Jasper only served to infuriate Jasper even more. She wrenched Lapis's hands away from her ears as she roared, "NO! You knew that I didn't want to be Malachite but you kept me there, chained like some kind of beast!" Lapis's image blurred as tears stung in Jasper's eyes. Or maybe that was the pain reaching her brain. "You forced me to stay as that abomination even when I begged you to let me go!"

"ENOUGH!" Peridot ran in between Jasper and Peridot tried to push them apart. Jasper let go of Lapis's arms with a scoff and took a step back. Lapis covered her mouth with one hand as the other fisted in her hair. She couldn't look at Jasper or Peridot, just staring at a space in the sand as tears flowed from her eyes. Peridot looked at Jasper and gasped. She pointed a shaky finger at Jasper's arm and the quartz gem glanced down.

Several spikes jutted out from the turquoise spots that littered her arm, each spike surrounded by weeping blood. Jasper whimpered and gripped one of them. She tried to pull it out but the pain was too great. The quartz gem realized she was reverting, soon she would be nothing more than a mindless monster. Her head snapped back to the other gems. Lapis was looking at her, shaking her head and whispering, "My fault," over and over again.

Jasper couldn't take it anymore, she turned around and ran for her life. She heard Peridot calling her back but she leaped up, climbing the cliff with her claws. When she reached the top, she saw that the leader of the watermelon Stevens had returned. Jasper didn't wonder how long he was there, she just barreled past him. The quartz gem ran through the village, all the Stevens once again stopping what they were doing. Instead of running up to hug her, they were staring at her and talking to one another in concerned voices, gesturing to the spikes that were now protruding from Jasper's back. Jasper tried to give a threatening snarl but it ended up becoming a yowl of agony as one of her ribs snapped under the pressure of her morphing body. The Stevens immediately rushed to her side, all of them patting her in an attempt to calm the quartz gem. The only watermelon that did not run to her aid was the leader. He stood in front of the statue and watched the ordeal. Jasper whimpered and got up on her feet and hands, jumping over the Stevens with a pained groan. She ran away from the village and through the jungle. Several times, Jasper crashed into a tree and downed it. She felt the branches claw into her body and rip at her clothes and flesh. Jasper tried to ignore the pain as much as she could as she ran through the jungle. She finally found the warp pad and activated it as soon as she leapt on it.

"Find Rose, find Rose," Jasper whispered like it was a prayer. She convulsed as her uniform began to rip at her back, the spikes growing larger. She gripped at her gem, it felt like it was made of acid but that was not what concerned her. Underneath the scorching heat, she could feel her heartbeats become weaker and weaker as her body reverted back to her corrupted form. The last thing she saw was light surrounding her as the warp pad activated.


	10. It's My Turn to Talk

Steven shivered at the cooling red goop that covered the front of his body. He glanced at Amethyst and was envious that the purple gem didn't feel the cold like him. The quartz was entirely covered with the mush but she didn't even shudder once. Steven's attention was pulled back to the map of Beach City that Pearl had laid out on the counter. The gems were discussing where Jasper could have gone and Pearl was insisting the quartz gem had skipped town for the tenth time. Steven couldn't focus on the words or frantic gesturing, he was busy replaying the past few hours in his head.

He had hoped to go back to the temple and wait out under the porch for Jasper to come back from her talk with Lapis. Luckily for him, the Crystal Gems had received word from Garnet that there was a corrupted gem in the strawberry patch and they had left, thinking Steven was still with Jasper and Peridot. That had been five hours ago. Now, they were all back and Steven was forced to explain how he had left Jasper with Peridot and Lapis and how now Jasper was loose somewhere, at least that was what Peridot had told him over the frantic tablet call. Steven was extremely lucky that Amethyst was distracting Garnet and Pearl by trying to hug them, after she got him, so none of them would hear about Jasper's and Peridot's hunt for Lapis and the resulting mess. As far as the Crystal Gems were concerned, Jasper started reverting when she saw Lapis at the barn and ran away so she wouldn't hurt either her or Peridot.

"Didn't you hear me, Steven?" Pearl asked, snapping Steven out of his thoughts.

"Sorry, I was just uh," Steven scrambled for an answer but came up empty. "I was just worried for Jasper," he said honestly. "She's alone out there and hurt and probably really scared," He knew how Jasper was feeling, having experienced it first-hand in his dream.

Pearl nodded and looked back at the map. "We all are but we need to concentrate on finding Jasper before she hurts anyone." She tapped at where the temple was drawn on the map. Steven noticed that it was encased in a red circle as well as several other areas, including the barn. "We need to split up to cover more ground. Steven, we want you and Lion to stay at the temple-"

"What!?" Steven interrupted Pearl. "I should help too! I'm the one that bro- got her out of the bubble, Jasper is my responsibility!"

"Jasper isn't a pet, Steven," Garnet said, not looking up from the map. "We need you here in case she comes back. Like you said, she's scared so showing up to an empty temple isn't the best idea."

Amethyst nodded, some of the strawberry colored mush dripping onto the map. Not even Pearl scoffed at the mess which made Steven worry more. "Yeah man, go make her some Together Breakfast or something to calm her down." The grin she gave Steven looked more like a strained grimace.

Steven thought over it for a few minutes while the other gems went back to the map and sighed, knowing that the gems were right. If Jasper showed up to an empty beach house or even to one of the gems she could freak out more and hurt herself and others. He watched in silence as the other gems discussed about which area was to be searched by which gem and if Peridot should get involved. Steven noticed that not one of the Crystal Gems mentioned Lapis.

The gems finally settled on which areas they would search and that Peridot would be better at the barn calming Lapis down. Steven promised that he would call the gems if he found Jasper and not approach her under any circumstances. The boy knew that if he indeed find Jasper first he would break the promise at once but by the way Garnet gave a subtle nod when Pearl asked him to promise, Steven knew he wouldn't get into too much trouble. Besides, if Jasper was reverting back to her corrupted form, Steven was the only one that could heal her. The three gems left Steven alone with Lion to search for Jasper in their assigned areas. Steven looked up to where Lion was sleeping on his bed and hurried up the stairs.

"Lion," Steven prodded, poking the pink animal's face. "Wake up, we have to find Jasper before the others."

At the quartz's name, both eyes snapped open and Lion jumped down to the first floor, running at the door. He pawed at it desperately while mewing up to Steven. Steven ran down the stairs, tripping on the last step and landing with on his back a grunt. He got back on his feet and went to the door, opening it for Lion. As soon as the door was opened wide enough, Lion squeezed his body through and bounded down the stairs. When he got halfway down, Lion halted and doubled back. Steven was about to climb on Lion's back when the animal leaned down and grabbed Steven by the nape of his neck. Lion jumped off the railing and landed lightly on the sandy beach. Steven could only tuck in his legs and arms as Lion sprinted to right of the temple, going to the more rural side of the cliff.

After a minute of Lion running with Steven safely in his jaws, Lion slowed to a stop, setting Steven gently back down. The boy got up and looked about, realizing with a quickening heart that Lion had took him to where Peridot's ship had crashed into earth. He saw a silhouette of an oddly-shaped boulder a few meters in front of him in the ocean. It moved with a whine and a sickening crunch. Steven dashed to Jasper's side, gasping as he saw the extent of the damage. Whatever Peridot had led him to believe about the corruption process was not even close.

All but Jasper's eyes had reverted back to her corrupted form. He looked at Jasper whining, her forepaws rubbing at her face like she could wash away the corruption. Steven lifted a hand to wipe away what he first thought was sweat but he snapped his hand back when he saw the liquid was staining the ocean a hideous red. "J-Jasper?"

Jasper's head whirled to look at Steven. Another whine forced its way out of her throat as she backed away from him and deeper into the ocean. Her eyes were unfocused and were ablaze with agony. Her gem was pulsating a brilliant orange as if it were her heart but each pulse was growing duller. Steven knew that once the pulsing stopped, Jasper would be back to her corrupted state, perhaps forever.

"St-stay a-away."

Steven's heart almost broke at how weak and melancholy Jasper sounded. Her voice was a bare skeleton of what should have been full of strength and a bit of arrogance. He shook his head and walked closer to Jasper, the water now up to his waist. Luckily, Jasper didn't retreat any further but she did give a low growl.

"Stop that," Steven ordered, his mouth set into a determined frown. "You don't have to pretend with me." He gestured to the blood staining the water. "I know you're hurting and you're scared but we've been through this before." Steven licked his hand and held it out to her. "I helped you once and I can do it again. I _will_ do it again but you need to want to get better too."

"N-no point." The pulsing was only happening every twenty seconds now and the gem barely glowed. "Lo-s evrythin."

Steven took a tiny step forward and rested his nonhealing hand on her chest. He couldn't feel Jasper's heart but he knew that it was still there. "You haven't lost everything, Jasper. It may seem like that now but there's still tomorrow." Steven smiled up at her. "You can be whoever you want on earth. You can learn new things. You already learned how to read! You don't have to be like this." On a whim, Steven removed his hand and walked back onto the beach. He turned to look at her and lifted his arms wide. "All you have to do is take the first step!"

Jasper stayed in the ocean, staring up at Steven and Lion. The pulsing of her gem grew a little stronger as she took a step forward. Another step and the gem pulsed a second faster and brighter. The pain began to ebb away as her fore paw touched the sand. Jasper walked slowly towards Steven, each step uncertain but she eventually stood in front of Steven.

Steven gave a relieved laugh and placed his healing hand on Jasper's gem. Immediately, the figure lost its shape and turned into a white, glowing blob. This time there was no hesitation, the blob returned to the form that was in between Jasper and her corrupted state. Once the light faded away, Jasper slumped forward and laid on the beach.

Lion walked over to her and rolled her on her back with his head. Jasper didn't open her eyes. Lion tilted his head and pawed at her horns but Jasper didn't respond. He mewed at Steven but the boy didn't know what to do. He had healed Jasper! She should be up and threatening him not to tell anyone about what just happened or she would have him bubbled! Steven took a shaky step forward and poked Jasper's face. She still didn't move and it didn't look like she was breathing. Steven poked her harder, his eyes starting to tear up as Lion mewed by him, patting Jasper's stomach with his paw.

"Wake up," Steven whispered. He reached into his pocket to call 911 but when he pulled his phone out it was soaked and won't turn on, no matter how hard he pressed the power button. He went into the ocean with it in his pocket! Steven threw the useless device away and licked his hand again. He laid it on her gem and Jasper's response was instantaneous.

Her eyes flashed open, wild and raging. With a snarl, Jasper leapt up and tackled Steven to the ground, her chest heaving. Lion was too shocked to do anything as Jasper lifted a clawed hand to bring down on the defenseless boy.

"Jasper, wait!" Steven cried out.

Jasper's eyes focused and she stared down at the boy. Her eyes widened at the realization of what she was about to do and she leapt off of him, slamming into Lion. The big cat gave a surprised yelp but didn't attack. Jasper's eyes scanned Steven, looking for any injuries. When she found none, she got back on her two feet and ran a hand through her hair. "What the fuck were you thinking, Steven!?" she yelled as she paced back and forth. "I was reverting back to my corrupted form! If you had showed up any later I could have hurt you or worse, killed you! What then, huh!?" She pointed at the sitting boy. "I would have to tell the Crystal Gems that I killed you and then they would have bubbled me or shattered me!"

Steven still stayed on the ground as tears leaked out of his eyes.

"Oh no," Jasper growled at the sight of the tears leaving streaks down Steven's cheeks. "I have been playing nice since I got out of that fucking bubble and I am not going back in just because some brat couldn't let me become corrupted in peace."

Steven wiped away the tears with a grin and smiled up at Jasper. "You called me Steven," he said. He got up and wiped away a few more tears. "You would always call me Rose and then brat or runt but you called me Steven." The happy grin melted into a pained grimace as Steven looked down at where his gem was, hidden by his favorite shirt. He looked back up at Jasper who stopped pacing. "I-I'm sorry for what my mom did to Pink Di-"

Jasper silenced him with a lifted hand as if she could physically stop the words from coming out of Steven's mouth. She looked out at the ocean, scowling at the remains of her blood in the water. "I don't want your apologies," she said, a hand coming up to rest on her arm. Steven noticed that the orange hand was covering more of the turquoise spots on Jasper's arm. The quartz gem looked back down at the boy. "Do you remember when I first came here? On that spacecraft?"

"Yeah," Steven answered with a nod. "You thought I was my mom when I brought out my shield." He glanced at Lion and then back at Jasper. "You said that you respected her."

"I did," Jasper agreed. She looked down at her hand with a sigh. "Do you know why I respected her so much?"

Steven shook his head.

"She did something that not even Pink Diamond could," Jasper said. She turned to look at the temple. "Rose Quartz was able to rally all of her forces every time they fought, no matter how low their chance of survival. They believed in her, in what she believed in." Jasper looked back down at Steven. "Soldiers fight for what they believe in but true warriors, warriors that make the greatest of leaders, know when to put the ideals they believe in at stake in order to create a better world in which others could have faith in. That is something no Diamond has ever done. Rose Quartz did shatter my Diamond but it was because she saw something on this planet that no one else could, and she showed that to others who joined her cause." Jasper rested a hand over her gem, feeling her heart beat steadily under it like it was proof of how much she sunk. Or maybe how much she changed. "I could never do something like that. I fought for my Diamond and only my Diamond, not for myself or for others. I just fought whoever they told me to fight and I didn't even care enough to ask for a reason. Rose Quartz wasn't like that and her comrades saw that."

Steven stayed quiet for a long time. He had no idea that even his mother's enemy could see something like that. He touched his own gem, wishing for the millionth time that he could talk to his mother, to know what she was like. He held up a hand for Jasper to grab. "Let's go home."

Jasper looked down and huffed, marching past Steven and towards the temple. She heard laughter and two pairs of footsteps trailing behind her. The quartz gem didn't turn her head to look at them but she did leave the door open for Steven and Lion to walk into the beach house before her. She glanced up at the portrait of Rose Quartz as she entered the house. Jasper sighed, she just hoped that Steven didn't tell the others what she said.

"Jasper, you should always have your backpack with you!" Steven called.

"What?" The quartz gem looked at where Steven was frowning at her with his hands on his hips, looking eerily like Pearl when Jasper did something wrong. On the living room table was the cheeseburger backpack but Jasper could have sworn she left it at the barn when she went to Mask Island. She walked over and picked it up, still trying to figure out where it came from. Something fell out of the burger compartment but Jasper never opened it that day. She bent down to pick up the object and saw it was the orange leaf that belonged to Lapis. She stared at it, the backpack slipping from her fingers to land on the table harshly. Steven didn't reprimand Jasper, he simply went to the bathroom room to get ready to sleep. He knew full well that the backpack wasn't there before and what the leaf meant.

Jasper held the leaf carefully as if it could break at any moment. She looked back down at the backpack and then at the leaf again. She knew it was a peace offering but Jasper wasn't sure she wanted to accept it just yet. The sound of a door opening and closing brought Jasper's attention back to Steven who was climbing up the stairs to his bed. "I'm going to sleep outside tonight," Jasper said, turning to head out of the house, not waiting for a response, although she could hear Steven tapping at his phone, presumably to tell the others that Jasper was back and all right.

The quartz gem left the beach house and with a few jumps, was sitting on the hand that Steven used to clean his clothes. Why he didn't simply use magic to put on clean clothes or create his uniform Jasper didn't know but she took comfort in the scent of the drier sheets. She studied the leaf, her night vision working well even in the dead of night. Jasper tried to memorize every detail of the leaf but after three minutes of looking at the leaf, Jasper groaned at her stiff neck and lifted it to get the cranks out. She looked up at the stars and frowned when she realized she couldn't tell which little dot was Homeworld. When Jasper was still on Homeworld, she knew exactly which star belonged to the Earth's solar system.

Her gem grew warm as something slid down Jasper's cheek. She wiped it with one of her fingers and looked at it. Jasper nearly jumped when the same thing slid down her other cheek and a few more followed suit. With a start she realized she was crying. Jasper's gem grew hotter as more tears came out of her eyes but she couldn't stop them. She held the leaf close to her chest as her body shook with the intensity of her sobs. Jasper came to the realization that she could never go back to Homeworld. She failed to redeem herself by not succeeding in escorting a simple peridot who only had to restart kindergarten and report the progress of the Cluster. She had fused with a gem of a different species, something that would have gotten her shattered on Homeworld in an instant. She lost control of said fusion and was the other gem's prisoner for months. She tried to fuse again and got herself corrupted in the process. She was revived by her sworn enemy's spawn and now owes her life to him. She was stuck on this miserable planet, living in the same house that Rose Quartz used to live in, having to pander to the Crystal Gems. And she was happy for it.


	11. FUNLAND

Jasper growled at the feeling of something furry pushing at her arm. She rolled over and tried to get back to her dream of running through a forest, shivering at the cool stone touching her body. The pressing continued however and Jasper could feel somebody breathing on her face. She growled louder and lifted an arm to push whatever it was away from her. Her fingers touched something soft and a purring noise emitted from the creature. With a groan, Jasper realized who was trying to wake her up and rolled onto her back. She peaked one eye open to see Lion was lying next to her, his face only an inch away from hers. The quartz gem scowled at the animal and pushed him away before sitting up. She yawned and stretched, her arms and legs giving several satisfactory cracks. Jasper turned her head at the sound of humming and saw Pearl was standing near the dryer.

"That's extremely creepy," Jasper said, reaching a hand up to scratch an itch in between her horns. She looked down and then around her, her eyes flashing from one place to the next. The quartz gem even shoved Lion from his resting spot so she could look underneath him. "Where is it?" Jasper whispered frantically, jumping up to see if she had somehow lain on it during the night.

"You mean this?"

Jasper turned her head to look at the leaf she thought she lost. Pearl was holding it with a raised eyebrow, wondering why the quartz gem was so concerned she lost a simple leaf. Jasper snatched it from Pearl's hands and examined it to see if there were any imperfections. She hissed at Lion when the animal came closer to look, figuring that the animal would try to destroy it like it was a paper bag. Jasper sighed in relief when she saw the leaf wasn't crumpled or otherwise damaged. She would have no idea of what to do if there was a tear or if it was crushed.

She looked back at Pearl and felt her cheeks begin to warm in the beginnings of a blush. "Thank you." Jasper glanced back down at the leaf held so tightly but carefully in her right hand. "The leaf means a lot to me."

Pearl nodded like she understood. She gestured to a cup and container filled with a lime green smoothie that she left on the washer. "I made you your breakfast and brought it out for you in case you wanted to consume it outside." She fidgeted for a moment which caused Jasper to tilt her head. What could possibly make the pearl nervous? Jasper knew it wasn't her presence because it made the pearl more agitated than anxious. "Steven wants to ask you about something. He's waiting for you on the porch." With that, Pearl turned and jumped off of the stone hand, landing daintily on the porch and informing Steven that Jasper had awoken.

Jasper blinked a few times, her mind still processing what just happened. She technically ran away from the Crystal Gems and almost hurt Steven but Pearl simply told her that Steven had a question for her. She looked down at Lion but he curled up into a loose ball to take a nap, showing how much he thought of Pearl's strange response. The quartz gem carefully placed the leaf in the band of her pants, making a mental note to put it in the cheeseburger backpack later. Jasper walked over to the washer and filled the cup with the smoothie. She sniffed at the gunk, trying to detect any foul play that Pearl may have tried to pull. It smelled as unappetizing as before but there was a hint of something familiar. Jasper took a sip but didn't gag at the taste. It insulted her taste buds like every other smoothie that Pearl had served her but this one had something else. Jasper took another sip, trying to figure out the hidden ingredient that didn't cause her to feel like she was going to vomit. It was when she filled the cup again that Jasper finally realized what she was tasting. Bananas! The pearl had added bananas to her smoothie.

She downed the cup and refilled it soon after. Jasper swallowed a mouthful and grabbed the container. She walked to the palm of the hand and looked behind her. Lion was fast asleep so he wasn't going anywhere. Jasper shook her head and stepped off the hand, landing with a thump on the porch, not nearly as graceful as Pearl. She saw that Steven was leaning against the rail and walked over to him. Jasper tilted the container towards Steven but the boy made a face and pushed it back to Jasper. The quartz gem shrugged and refilled her cup.

"Pearl put bananas into my smoothie," Jasper began. She glanced down before her eyes settled on the scenery. The sun was already high up in the sky so it must have been midday. Jasper narrowed her eyes as she calculated that she must have been asleep for more than twelve hours.

"I told Pearl that you liked banana smoothies," Steven said. He rested his chin on the palm of his hand to look up at Jasper. The quartz gem noted that the boy look as if he didn't get any sleep at all, there were dark bags under his eyes. "I had a nightmare," Steven said, noticing how Jasper frowned down at him. After all the threats and barbs, Steven knew that the gem cared for him, or at the very least didn't want to be blamed for any of his injuries or lapses in judgement towards his health, which was a huge step forward for someone like Jasper.

Jasper sighed and placed the cup and container on the rail, her appetite no longer there. "Was it about me?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

Steven nodded and buried his chin into his arms. "I didn't save you this time." He looked out over the ocean and he could imagine his nightmare taking place right in front of the temple. He could even hear the yowls of pain in the wind that ruffled his hair. "You trusted me but I couldn't heal you."

"You did," Jasper said. She lifted a hand and hesitated for a moment before resting it on Steven's head. She witnessed Garnet doing this several times prior and it always seemed to cheer him up. "I'm still here because you healed me."

"There's something I wanted to ask you," Steven said suddenly, not moving his head lest he bump Jasper's hand off of him. He knew that for Jasper to do something like this was not only extremely rare but also a step in the right direction. "There's a festival happening at Funland. It's to celebrate something humans call a New Year's Eve. We like to have parties before the New Year begins!"

Jasper could already here the question and she talked before Steven could ask it. "I have better things to do than to celebrate another day passing." In truth, Jasper didn't want to go outside for a very long time. She wanted to lay on her couch and read Fangs of Love for the third time, no matter how terrible it was.

"Please," Steven begged, drawing out the word until it became a whine. He looked up at her and clasped his hands together, giving the quartz gem his very best puppy-dog face. Jasper only looked at him like he grew another gem on his forehead. "It's going to be fun! Everyone will be there and there's going to be lots of food, although you won't be able to eat it," Steven added a moment later with a frown. The grin sprang back on his face however. "There's gonna be rides!" The grin slid off his face as he sized Jasper up. "But you're probably too big." He scratched his head, trying to find something that would peak Jasper's interest. "Oh I know," Steven yelled, stars brightening his eyes. "Mr. Smiley is lighting off fireworks at midnight! You'll love those, they're colorful and loud and big and loud."

"You said loud twice," Jasper commented. She had a sinking feeling that the boy wasn't going to give up until she said yes. She groaned and rubbed at the back of her neck. "If I agree to come to this party will you leave me alone for the rest of the day?"

Steven nodded so much that it looked as if he was about to bob his head right off.

"Fine," Jasper grunted. She already started to regret her decision when Steven pumped his fists in the air.

"I gotta tell Amethyst!" The boy ran into the beach house and slammed the door shut. Jasper sighed and rubbed at her temple. Why did she agree to this?

* * *

A few hours later the Crystal Gems and Jasper were all standing outside of the temple and near Greg's van. Greg introduced himself to Jasper but when he tried to shake her hand all Jasper did was hiss at him. Steven laughed at the reaction but Greg ran behind Pearl and asked if Jasper was prone to biting. The human stayed as far away from Jasper as he could without appearing rude and whenever he thought Jasper wasn't looking, he would gawk at her. Jasper found the entire situation rather aggravating. Jasper turned her head to look at the temple, wondering if it was too late to run back.

"Okay, it's settled," Steven said, slapping his hands together. He looked at Amethyst, Garnet, and Pearl. "You three will go with Dad in his van while I ride on Lion."

"I'll be sitting on the van," Garnet corrected the boy. She jumped up and landed on the van's roof with a small bang. She laid down on the top and waited for the others to start moving. Steven got on Lion's back and gave the animal a quick pat on the head.

Amethyst threw open the van's rear doors before crawling in. The purple gem immediately began to rummage through Greg's things, making a cocoon for herself and eating something she found that may have once been a sandwich. Pearl on the other hand made a face at the sight of all the junk and got into the passenger seat. Greg looked at Jasper with a worried frown. "Uh there might not be room for you in the van. We could always hitch a trailer or maybe a wagon or um" Greg trailed off, scratching the back of his head at what Jasper could fit into.

Jasper looked at the van in thinly veiled disgust. She wasn't in the van and already she began to feel lightheaded at all the different scents radiating out of it, most of them extremely unpleasant. "I'll run."

"Are you sure?" Greg asked. "It's a long run and I'm sure if I throw away some of the junk we can fit you in."

"Don't throw away this stuff, man!" Amethyst yelled from her cocoon. "Some of it is really cool, like this!" The purple gem held out an object that Jasper had no clue what it was only that it was broken. It was some kind of instrument that looked like a guitar but instead of strings there were piano keys. The neck of the instrument was snapped and was only hanging on by a few wires.

Greg laughed and grabbed the instrument from Amethyst. "Oh I almost forgot about this thing." He held it up high so that Garnet could see from her place. "Remember when I asked you to play this?" Greg lowered his arm as his grin faltered. "Afterwards you slammed it against the stage's floor."

"It's what hardcore guitarists do," Garnet explained. She fixed her visors as she rolled onto her side. "After playing a song they break the guitar against the stage."

"Yeah but this thing cost me an arm and a leg." He gave the broken instrument back to Amethyst who promptly began to push all the buttons, seeing if any of them worked. Greg looked at all of his stuff inside his van and thought that even if it was perfectly clean, Jasper probably still wouldn't fit comfortably. Maybe if she laid down on the hood and Garnet moved inside the van it could work.

The quartz gem tilted her head as she watched Greg think of ways that he could fit her into the van. Steven inherited all his useless feelings on how to make everyone happy from Greg and Rose Quartz both, Jasper concluded. "I am fine with running," she said with an air of finality.

"What if you get tired?" Steven asked.

"Then I'll take a break if I need to." Jasper shrugged off her backpack and handed it to Steven. The boy groaned under the sudden weight but he still put it on. Lion grumbled at the added weight but he began to purr when Steven patted his head again. Jasper could already feel her heart beat faster at the thought of running without holding back. She smirked down at Lion. "Try to keep up." Lion huffed and dug his claws in the ground as if he couldn't wait to start.

Greg glanced between Steven and Jasper a few times before shrugging and getting into the driver's seat. He had to turn the keys twice before the engine caught and turned over. Greg drove away and Jasper and Lion began to run after the vehicle. Garnet kept a close eye on the quartz gem behind her visors to make sure that she didn't hurt herself.

Jasper panted and leaned down so she was on all fours. She snapped her jaws when Lion was starting to run ahead of her. He turned his head and Jasper could have sworn that the animal looked smug. Jasper growled and pushed herself a little harder, easily outrunning Lion. She heard laughter and looked back to see Steven staring at her with stars in his eyes.

"So cool!" Steven yelled out at her. He leaned down and pressed his ankles into Lion's sides for a moment. "Come on, Lion! Faster!" Lion roared and bounded after Jasper as fast as he could. He kept up with the quartz gem.

Lion started to breathe heavily after a minute but Jasper wasn't even breaking a sweat. She shook her head with a laugh and couldn't resist the urge to push herself as far as she could. The quartz gem bounded past the van, feeling her body surge with the adrenaline with every thump of her heart. Jasper almost tripped when a honk pierced the quiet of the night. She slowed her pace with a growl. Jasper could make out Pearl's disapproving face as the van drove past her and she heard Amethyst laughing from inside the van. Even Garnet was chuckling.

"We're almost there!" Steven yelled to Jasper. Lion was definitely getting tired, he was staggering behind but he still managed to keep up his pace. Jasper snickered under her breath and Lion hissed at her but she knew that the animal didn't mean it.

The group finally stopped three minutes later. Jasper was reluctant to stop running but now a sheen of sweat covered her body. She stood up while Lion flopped down on his side, unseating Steven in the process. The boy let out an "Oof" as he fell but he quickly got up. He was having trouble keeping still as everyone else got out of the van.

Greg looked at his son with a grin and held up a finger like he was about to give a lecture. "Look Steven, I know you're excited but you need to be safe, all right? The fireworks are going to begin in," he looked down at his watch which Jasper noticed held the picture of a pear crying, "four hours and we're all going to meet up at the beach to watch them." He closed the back doors as Amethyst ran off with Pearl chasing after her, yelling something about hotdogs. Greg got back into his driver's seat and rolled down his window so he could stick his head out and look at Steven. "I'm going to get this bad boy to the beach while you have fun."

Steven nodded in understanding. "Okay, dad!" He walked over to Jasper and tugged at her pants, trying to lead her to the entrance. "Come on, Jasper. We only have four hours and I want to show you the boardwalk!"

"I've already been on the boardwalk," Jasper said, not moving an inch. "You took me there to go to the Big Donut."

"No, not that boardwalk," Steven said, giving Jasper another tug. He pointed at a sign that said FUNLAND, little bulbs making the word shine brightly in the dying light. "I want to show you all the different games they have. Maybe we can even sneak you on a ride!"

Steven hurried over to the entrance before Jasper could say anything and raised his hand to make Jasper follow him. Jasper looked at the others and figured that it would be less painful to be with the boy than any of them. She followed Steven to the entrance and scoffed when the boy turned to run into a building. Sensing she had no choice, Jasper walked to the building to get a better look. It was purple in color and Whacky Mirrors was written on the front in silver paint. Jasper sighed and entered the building. There were mirrors lined up all along the left side of the hallway and Steven was flexing his arms in the first one. Jasper raised an eyebrow and looked into the mirror, frowning when her image was distorted immediately. She glanced down and saw that the way the mirror was warped, it looked like Steven was more muscular than he actually was. Jasper stood in front of the second mirror and her eyes widened when her image shrunk. She was now the size of Pearl! The quartz gem leaned forward to poke at the mirror, trying to deactivate it or set it back to the normal setting. She looked over at Steven who was now in front of another mirror, the image making his head far too big for his body. He was snorting from how much he was laughing and looked over to Jasper's image. The laughing grew until he was practically hollering. Jasper frowned and walked in front of another mirror. This time she was a lot bigger, her head not even visible. The quartz gem grimaced at her reflection and walked towards another mirror, and then another. Each one made something grotesque and Steven would laugh at each one. Finally, Jasper stood in front of the last mirror, her image now all but distorted. The way the mirror was warped made Jasper appear as if everything was smushed together. She couldn't stop staring at her face. It looked as if her old gem was back instead of a real nose. Jasper raised a shaky hand to touch her nose, feeling the flesh instead of rock underneath her fingers.

"Maybe we should go," Steven said, watching Jasper stare at herself. When Jasper didn't respond, he walked closer and tugged on her elbow, trying to get the hand away from Jasper's face. "Jasper, I want to show you some other cool stuff."

The tugging snapped Jasper out of her trance and she looked down at the boy. She could see the concern he had for her and glanced back at the mirror. With her head turned, it no longer looked like her old gem was back but her horn was horribly misshapen. She nodded and walked out of the building with Steven trailing behind. "How long have we been here?"

Steven got his new phone, which was really an old phone he put in safe keeping when he got the phone he destroyed from the incident last night, out to check the time. "About an hour actually." He put it back in his pocket and ran out in front of Jasper, pointing to the game section of the park. "How about we use the other three hours here?" Before Jasper could answer, Steven had already run up to the nearest gaming booth and slapped a ten-dollar bill down. The quartz gem walked over to Steven and titled her head at the booth. There were seven of what appeared to be some sort of gun mounted on the counter. On the wall of the booth were seven bullseye targets, one for each gun. On top of the bullseye was a cylindrical tube that were encased with flashing lights that would change colors to create different patterns. Jasper looked down at Steven who smiled up at her, patting the gun next to him. "I already paid for you so you have to play." He grabbed his own weapon and pressed down on the two buttons with his thumbs. "You want to aim the nozzle at the red circle on the bullseye when the water comes out. The first person to fill the tank wins!"

Jasper had to get on her knees to be able to properly aim the gun. She had no idea why Steven would allow her to have a weapon but when she gave it an experimental pull, she found that it was firmly bolted into the counter. It would be nothing for her to rip it out of the counter but for some reason, she didn't feel like it. The quartz gem shook her head and aimed the nozzle.

"Anymore players want to try their aim at the water guns!?" called out the booth attendant. When nobody else showed up to play, he flipped some switch on a panel hidden to the customers. Jasper's and Steven's cylinders stopped making patters and flashed three times before settling to a red. "Ready? Set. Go!"

Jasper pressed down the two buttons with her thumbs but widened her eyes when her stream of water hit an inch to the right of the target. The weapon wasn't properly calibrated! She quickly corrected her aim but she saw that Steven was already ahead of her. The quartz gem growled and pressed down harder on the buttons but the stream was as weak as before.

Before she knew it, Steven's cylinder filled with blue light and flashed three times as horns blared from the speakers. Steven gave a triumphant shout and grabbed his prize: a bag of chips. He eagerly opened the bag and ate some of the chips. "Don't worry, Jasper. There's still a whole bunch of games to play."

The two played all sorts of games but each one Jasper lost to Steven or someone else that happened to want to play the same game. Jasper's mood soured after each loss until finally there were only two gaming booths left. One was the test your strength game and the other a dart game. Sadie and Lars were using the test your strength game and it appeared that Sadie was the stronger of the two. Jasper wanted to try her own hand at the game but Steven quickly dragged her away towards the darts. "Uh, maybe we should try that one later," he said.

Jasper grumbled but allowed herself to be dragged to the darts booth. The entire back wall was covered in balloons of different sizes and colors. There was a sign displayed in front of the booth that showed the different points for different sizes and how many points were required for what type of prize. The biggest balloons only gave the player 5 points, the medium gave 10, and the small 20. The largest prize cost 350 points, the medium cost 200, and the small 75. There was a sentence written in small print and Jasper had to lean down to read it. It stated that if the player found and popped the legendary golden balloon, he or she would automatically win the largest prizes. Jasper looked down and saw that Steven was looking for the golden balloon. He suddenly grinned and patted Jasper's leg. "There! In between the two blue big balloons!" Jasper frowned at the sight of the golden balloon. It was as big as her pinkie's claw!

"I want to pop that balloon," Jasper said. After her string of losses she needed this win.

"Well good luck with that," laughed the booth attendant. He smiled at the two but Jasper thought that the smile looked more painful than cheerful. "I thought I banned you from the games, Steven," the man laughed down at Steven.

"No, just the rides, Mr. Smiley."

Jasper looked down at Steven in shock. She didn't think the boy had the guts to do anything that warranted a banishment of any kind. She looked back at the balloon and started forming a strategic plan to get the area clear enough for her to have the best chances of popping it with the five darts that Mr. Smiley set in front of her. He was giving her some safety rules but Jasper just ignored him. She wanted to pop the gold balloon, not throw darts at some humans. Jasper would have to take out the two blue balloons first and perhaps the medium red one right above the gold. She nodded to herself as she grabbed the first dart. She took aim and threw it, the balloon to the left of her prize popping.

Mr. Smiley shook his head and sighed. "You gotta try harder than that if you want to pop that bad boy." Another dart flew and the blue balloon to the right popped. "That sucker has been on my board for as long as I first set up this booth." Jasper threw another dart and the red one above popped. "But hey, you now have twenty points. If you pay another five bucks you could win an eraser with that aim."

The quartz gem turned her head to glare at Mr. Smiley. The smile slipped off of his face at her glare and he tried to make himself smaller by pressing up against the side wall. Jasper slowly raised her arm with her dart and threw it without looking. Mr. Smiley gulped as he heard a balloon pop and Steven cheering but he didn't dare look away from Jasper. The quartz gem's lips lifted into a dangerous smirk as she held out the last dart. "I don't think I'll need this one."

Mr. Smiley took the dart with a trembling hand, feeling sweat bead on his forehead. He put the remaining dart back with the others and pointed up at where his biggest prizes were. "Take whichever one you want."

Jasper nodded her head in approval and looked up to survey her prizes. Her face quickly sported a frown when she realized that Mr. Smiley only had one large prize available: a green alien with a top hat and bow tie. She grabbed the one nearest to her and frowned down at it. It was rather ugly in Jasper's opinion but she still won it. Jasper looked down at Steven who was jumping up and down in his excitement.

"Nobody has ever popped the golden balloon!" He grabbed her pants and tried to walk away, only managing to take a step before he began to walk in place. Steven looked behind him and pointed to the beach. "Come on, we should go now if we want to see the fireworks!"

Steven let go of Jasper to run down the boardwalk. Jasper rolled her eyes but followed the boy, the alien tucked safely under her arm. She lost sight of Steven when he more jumped than walked down the stairs that connected the boardwalk to the beach. Jasper climbed down the stairs and looked about. She spotted a few of Beach City's residents scattered here and there, the people setting up various equipment to make themselves comfortable for the show. Off to the far right, Jasper found Steven talking to Connie and Greg and Garnet setting up a fire next to the children. Lion was curled up on top of Greg's van, already asleep. Pearl and Amethyst were nowhere to be found but Jasper figured that they were probably getting snacks or more accurately replacing the food that Amethyst ate. The quartz gem walked over and sat down in front of the now blazing fire. She raised her hands to feel the fire's radiant heat. Even though it was not a particularly chilly night, Jasper still liked the feeling of the warmth seeping into her body. She lifted her eyes away from the dancing flames when she heard a familiar laugh. Jasper almost thought her eyes were playing tricks on her until she noticed that Steven looked very worried. A few feet away from the group was Lapis Lazuli laughing at something Peridot had said.

"Oh, I guess I forgot to mention that I invited them," Greg said, noticing how both Steven and Jasper were staring at the still unsuspecting duo. "I know how much you like hanging out with them Stewball and I thought it would be nice if they were here with the rest of the Crystal Gems." When nobody gave a reply, Greg's cheeks began to redden. "Was I not supposed to invite them or- "

"No," Garnet interrupted, laying a reassuring hand on Greg's shoulder with a grin. "It's good for Lapis and Peridot to be exposed to human culture, even if they don't understand it." She let go of Greg's shoulder to look down at Jasper. "It's good for you too."

Jasper was too distracted to realize that Garnet's words were directed at her. She got up slowly, almost forgetting her alien prize until the smell of singeing cloth caught her attention. The quartz gem scooped up the alien and frowned at the new brown patch on its right arm. Jasper heard a gasp and her head snapped to the right. Peridot and Lapis were staring at her, Peridot's hand holding onto Lapis's arm. Jasper was reminded of their first meeting at the hospital and shook her head to rid herself of the memories.

Before either of the gems could run off, Jasper closed the distance between them with seemingly confident strides. In truth, all that Jasper could think of was her last words to Lapis and how they saw her converting back to her corrupted form. She looked down at the two of them and could read the uncertainty in both their eyes. "I'm okay."

Peridot shook her head and lifted a hand almost like she wanted to make sure Jasper was really there. Lapis simply lowered her head and held onto her arms like she was trying to hold herself together lest she crumple like a shattered cup. "Steven healed you again?" Peridot asked, her eyes glancing at Steven who was watching them along with Greg and Connie. Garnet had sat down facing the fire and away from them.

Jasper grunted an affirmative and shifted the alien in her arm, the patch was causing her skin to itch when it rubbed up against it. Peridot's eyes flashed to the toy and despite herself a small smile tugged at her lips. Jasper frowned when Lapis still didn't look at her. She looked at the alien toy and then Peridot. "I want to share a few words with Lapis." Lapis flinched and Peridot's eyes hardened. "It won't be like the last time." Lapis glanced up from her bangs. "I want to apologize," Jasper said solemnly, meeting Lapis's hidden gaze.

The green gem chewed on her bottom lip as she weighed her options. She gave a quick jerk of a nod and had to lean up on her toes to grab the toy from Jasper's arm. Peridot walked over to the group, nearly tripping several times due to the toy being almost her size. She didn't turn her back to the two like Garnet, she stood watching them while holding the toy close to her.

"Don't apologize," Lapis said before Jasper could even utter a syllable. She lifted her head so Jasper could see how haunted her eyes were. Lapis looked back down and gave a pathetic chuckle, the palm of her right hand rubbing at her eye as if she just woke up from a nap and was trying to rub the sleep from her eye. "You were telling the truth at Mask Island and even back on Greg's boat."

"I was wrong," Jasper said. She ran her fingers through her hair, feeling her hand bump one of her horns. "I shouldn't have said the things that I did."

"Yes, you should have," Lapis argued. She looked at the others, her eyes lingering on Peridot the longest. The green gem tried to give an encouraging smile but it was hideously forced. She looked back at Jasper. "I could shatter them all in a second and you know that. You are the only one that has ever seen the extent of the damage I could cause but you still follow me around like a runt that doesn't realize that its mom abandoned it." Lapis shook her head and Jasper could see the confusion in her eyes. "Why do you still want me? I don't understand. I hurt you, kept you as a prisoner for months and yet here you are."

"Here I am," Jasper repeated. She took a long time to think over Lapis's words and her own answer. Finally, the quartz gem shrugged. "I don't know why I still want you. You can be a monster but you also showed me how wrong I was about fusion." She lifted a hand when Lapis took a step back in fear. "This isn't about Malachite. This is about me. Finding and seeing you has been my only goal for so long and now that I'm here, now that I can touch you," Jasper rested a hand on Lapis's crossed arms. Lapis looked conflicted for a moment and the quartz gem could hear Garnet rising to her feet behind her. However, the water gem did nothing and Jasper took it as a positive sign. "I don't know what to do now. I can't go back to Homeworld. Jaspers were created to fight and to never give up but I have nothing to fight or fight for. Now I'm lost and the only thing that has ever made me want to be better was you, even if it was for the wrong reasons. I'm just never going to stop wanting you until I find something else, I suppose," she finished.

Lapis looked at Jasper for a very long time, her eyes taking in her new form. Her shoulders shook with the sudden laughter bubbling up from her chest. "That's really sad and I've been trapped in a mirror for thousands of years."

Jasper nodded with her own chuckle. "I know it is." She opened her mouth to say something else but chanting stopped her. All around her, the people got up and started counting down from twenty. Jasper turned her head and saw that Steven and Connie were pumping their fists in time of the counting. Only the Homeworld gems did not join in the count down. When they reached zero, everyone erupted into cheers. Even Garnet clapped and smiled. Jasper turned her head to ask Lapis if she knew what was going on but movement over the ocean caught her eye. Five streaks of light flew up the sky before each exploded with a loud bang into different colors. Lion gave a yelp as he was rudely awoken and fell off the van. More streaks flew up and some even formed images like smiley faces and Jasper could have sworn she saw one erupting into an image of a rose.

"What are they?" Lapis asked, watching several lights erupting one after another in quick succession like they were timed.

"Rockets?" Jasper tried to answer. "They don't seem to be harming anyone." Her eyes narrowed as a shower of lights erupted from one streak, her eyes not liking the sudden bright flashes of lights. She could see the clouds of smoke build more after each explosion. "Perhaps it is a signal of some sort."

"No!" Steven laughed. While the two were trying to figure out what the explosions were, Steven and Connie walked up behind them. He grabbed something out of his pocket that looked like a whistle and blew into the mouth piece. A paper tongue rolled out and the sound that emitted from the toy caused both Jasper and Lion to hiss. Steven smiled sheepishly as he pocketed the toy right after.

Connie just laughed, now used to Jasper's need to hiss at everything that annoyed her, including herself. "They're called fireworks." She followed one streak of light with her finger as she explained. "Humans create them to celebrate special occasions. They first light a fuse which will go into a chamber to ignite the pack of gunpowder inside. The gunpowder ignition causes the firework to move and with the proper design, fly really high into the sky. Some people put in a few different metals with the gunpowder that once lit, emit the light that you are now seeing. If the person making the fireworks have the correct calculations, the fuse will continue from the gunpowder package into the one at the head of the firework. This package would only hold the metals and when lit explodes into what you see now." The firework Connie was following erupted into a shower of red sparks.

Steven opened his mouth to ask a question about the patterns but the looks on Jasper's and Lapis's faces told him that they were confused enough as it is. It was also probably better if the gems didn't understand the concept behind fireworks and tried it out themselves. Steven trusted Lapis not to do anything too rash but if Peridot got wind of how to make fireworks. The boy ended his train of thought with a shudder.

"Well, I've always been more of a fan of sparklers myself," he said. His face suddenly lit up and he grabbed Lapis's hand and Jasper's pants. "That reminds me! Come on, I have a treat for you guys." Steven rushed over to his father's van, throwing open the doors and diving inside. The two gems watched as various items were thrown out of the van without care. Most of them belonged inside a trashcan instead of a human's living quarters in Jasper's opinion. They heard a crash but Steven climbed out without a scratch and ran back to them. He held up two metal stick things and Jasper and Lapis grabbed one each.

Jasper took a sniff and wrinkled her nose at the scent. It wasn't edible, she was sure but it was too small to hold any other value.

Steven laughed at Jasper's reaction and held up the lighter that he held in his other hand. "I have to light it first." He reached for Lapis's sparkler first and struggled to turn on the lighter a few times before a tiny flame sputtered out. Steven lit Lapis's sparkler and it flared a brilliant red. Lapis quickly stretched her arm as far as she could but when the sparkler didn't burn her, she slowly pulled it closer to examine it. Jasper glanced down at her own unlit sparkler and held it out for Steven to light. Her sparkler didn't give off red sparks but green. Jasper didn't immediately stretch her arm like Lapis but rather she flicked her wrist and saw how for a moment it looked as if she had drew a green line in the open air. A grin lit up Jasper's face as she continued to move the sparkler around, watching as she created new lines and if she was fast enough, even draw circles. A bubble of delightful laughter escaped the quartz gem but she couldn't find herself to care. A similar laugh was heard to her side and Jasper looked down to see that Lapis was as entranced with the sparklers as she was. Lapis tried to write something in the air but she was always a second too slow to complete it but it didn't matter, the water gem was still giggling and tried again.

All too soon the sparklers died and Jasper and Lapis were left holding with dead rods. Jasper looked down to where Steven was but found that the space was empty. She turned her head and saw that while she was occupied with the sparkler, Steven had walked to the campfire. He and Connie were playing with a pink and purple sparkler respectively while Garnet watched them, her hands pressed together and smiling at the children. Greg was there as well but he was plucking at his guitar's strings instead of playing with the fireworks. Jasper's eyes snapped to Peridot. Jasper's prize was left on its side like Peridot forgot that it was even there. She noticed that the technician was holding two sparklers, one red and one blue. The gem wasn't waving them in the air but rather just watching them sparkle with a small smile.

Jasper and Lapis walked back to the group and Jasper sat down in front of the fire again. She tossed her dead rod into the flames, hoping that the fire would cause it to sparkle again. When it did nothing but give a weak crack, Jasper frowned and grabbed a stick to poke at the rod. It still did nothing.

"It only works once." Steven sat down next to Jasper and threw in his own rod. He looked up at her, his eyes now serious. "Did you have fun today?"

Jasper gave a noncommittal grunt but she realized with a start that she did have fun. She was glad that she came on this trip but she was never going to admit that to Steven. He would try to drag her all over Beach City.

"We're back and we replaced the food that _somebody_ ate!"

Steven gave a shout of joy and rushed over to Amethyst and Pearl who were carrying some bulky plastic bags. Amethyst shrugged at the accusation Pearl gave her but she couldn't lie and say she didn't eat all the snacks. The purple gem plopped down next to Jasper where Steven had been sitting a few moments before. She upended the plastic bags she had been carrying and several items spilled out. Jasper loomed over Amethyst so she had a clear view of the items. They were packages of chocolate, gram crackers, and marshmallows. There was also a package filled with thin metal rods, each half a foot long.

"For s'mores," Amethyst explained when Jasper looked confused. She ripped open the packages and grabbed a marshmallow and a metal rod. She skewered the marshmallow and thrust it into the fire. Amethyst waited until the entire marshmallow was on fire before pulling it out. She allowed the flames to go out on their own, leaving the marshmallow to look more like a chunk of charcoal than food. Amethyst finished making her s'more before offering it to Jasper.

"I can't eat that," Jasper said, pushing away the offered s'more. Amethyst just shrugged and plopped it into her mouth.

Pearl had come over by now and soon everyone was sitting around the fire. Garnet must have used her future vision to predict this outcome because the fire was big enough for everyone to sit around it without being cramped.

"Did you win another alien, Peridot?" Pearl asked, pointing at the alien toy next to Jasper. The quartz gem saw Peridot's eyes flash to the toy like she wanted to steal it. Jasper growled at the gem and pulled the toy closer to her. Peridot frowned and crossed her arms.

"You left it alone so I took it back," Jasper said, her eyes challenging Peridot. The green gem met her gaze for a few moments before huffing and glaring at the fire.

Pearl saw the interaction and opened her mouth to chastise Jasper for whatever the quartz gem did but her eyes settled on Amethyst. She scowled at the purple quartz. "Don't eat everything again!"

Jasper turned her head and noticed that Amethyst had already gone through two entire chocolate bars and a pack of gram crackers. The purple gem shrugged and tossed the s'more ingredients to Steven on the other side of the fire. Steven and Connie quickly went about making their own s'mores, laughing and challenging each other to a s'more cookoff. Jasper had to concede that the longer she had to smell the marshmallows roasting in the fire, the more she wanted to try one.

Pearl must have noticed the way Jasper's eyes followed Steven's marshmallow as the boy pulled it away from the flames. "You can't eat strict solids yet but I suppose you can have a few s'mores if you don't eat them with the crackers."

Steven gasped in delight and ran to the other side, sitting in between Jasper and Pearl. "I can show you how to roast marshmallows!"

"You put them in the flames," Jasper said. "What more can there possibly be?"

"You have to know how long you want them toasted." He held up his skewer and displayed his lightly browned marshmallow. "Personally, I like them soft and a little chewy so I only leave them for a minute at the edge of the flames." His eyes moved to Amethyst who somehow got her hands on another package marshmallows. "Others might like them crunchy like Amethyst so she leaves them literally in the flames until it becomes all black."

"It's better," Amethyst said through a mouthful of charred marshmallows.

Jasper grabbed a skewer and worked on a marshmallow. She didn't know how long she should leave the marshmallow in the fire so she did what Steven did, taking it out when it became slightly brown. Jasper bit into it and frowned, it was too chewy and cold for her taste. The quartz gem put on another marshmallow and thrust it into the flames. It caught on fire and Jasper blew it out when the entire thing was charred. She waited a few moments for it to cool down before biting into it. Jasper quickly ate the rest and worked on another marshmallow and then another. These were better than banana smoothies!

"That a girl, sis!" Amethyst cheered. The two quartz gems took turns roasting their marshmallows to a charred husk.

"Must be a quartz thing," Peridot said to herself as she watched the two go through a whole bag of marshmallows. Lapis nodded in agreement. Peridot eyed the alien laying next to Jasper. If only it were made of metal, then she could steal it. When Steven offered Peridot his bag of marshmallows and a clean skewer, she shook her head. She found eating kind of disgusting, especially whatever the two were eating. Peridot looked up at Lapis and suddenly smiled. "You're blue."

Lapis chuckled despite herself and hugged her knees to her chest, resting a cheek on them to look at Peridot. "I've always been blue."

"No," Steven called out over the crackling of the fire and light chatter around him and Lapis lifted her head to look at the boy. Lapis noticed that in between marshmallows, Jasper would glance over to her. "You've been dull lately but now you're bright again!"

For some reason, Lapis had the suspicion that Steven meant more than the color of her body. She had known that Steven was far more perceptive than he lets on with his constant smiles and jokes but he usually hid it. Lapis looked back at the fire where Jasper's marshmallow had melted right off her rod which was now glowing red from being in the flames for too long. The sight made Lapis smile even if she didn't know why. "I guess you're right."


	12. When the Mind is Too Fuzzy

Jasper took deep, slow breaths. She took in a breath for two seconds, held it for another two, and let it go for three seconds. The quartz gem repeated her breathing exercise for at least ten minutes now, a hand rubbing her stomach gently to calm it. Jasper kept her eyes closed lest the room spin around her again. Spin.

The quartz gem's eyes wrenched open as a now familiar feeling churned her stomach. She grabbed the toilet in front of her with both hands and emptied her stomach for the fifth time that day. Jasper spat out the taste of vomit and heaved. A shaky hand pressed down the lever and the toilet flushed. Once again, Jasper's hand rubbed her stomach in lazy circles as she breathed slowly and deeply.

It was all Amethyst's fault. The damnable runt challenged her to a charred marshmallow eating contest. Jasper was going to decline but the pearl tried to forbid her from accepting which of course forced the quartz gem's hand into entering the contest. She lost count of how many bags of marshmallows she alone went through, only that they were all coming back up.

Jasper groaned as she vomited again, cursing both Amethyst for her ridiculous challenge and Pearl for her incessant need to try to control everything. A part of her was impressed that she managed not to crush the toilet or dig her claws into the porcelain surface. Jasper flushed the toilet and slumped against the tub.

"I don't care if I go into a coma again," Jasper whimpered to herself, her eyes shutting in defeat, "I'm never eating again."

"Ah, don't be like that."

Jasper growled at the words and the voice that they belonged to. An eye peaked open just so it can glare at the cause of all this pain. Amethyst walked into the bathroom and the look of sympathy on her face tore another growl from Jasper.

Amethyst was unfazed by Jasper's hostility and jumped up to sit on the sink's counter. "Don't worry about the overeating thing, it took Steven a few tries to figure out what his limit is." The purple gem flashed Jasper a smug smirk. "Me on the other hand, I have no limit." She leaned back against the mirror, resting the back of her head on her arms. "I can eat anything at any time. Seriously; I once had a foot-long sandwich made of a couple weeks old cheese, some meat that I don't even think PETA would know about, and the bread wasn't even bread, it was chocolate cake! The best part was that I drowned that bad boy in cooking oil." Amethyst patted her stomach happily, remembering that amazing sandwich.

Jasper, however, was anything but happy. As Amethyst described her creation, her stomach twisted more and more. Finally, Jasper dove to the toilet and made it just in time. When she was done, she turned her head to snarl threats at Amethyst but had to hug the toilet once more. She heard Amethyst hop off her seat and walk over to her. For a moment, Jasper thought that the purple gem was going to make fun of her for having a weak stomach but Amethyst pulled back her wild hair and rubbed her back as Jasper dry heaved. The quartz gem spat and her body shivered with her weak chuckles.

"This is salt in my wounds," Jasper gasped. "I beat you to a pulp twice and now you're helping me like I'm some whelp." The quartz gem was going to say more but she became preoccupied.

Once she was done, Amethyst smacked her lightly on the head. "I just don't want to tell Pearl about any mess you could have made."

"I am more than capable of throwing my guts up cleanly without any help," Jasper tried to growl. She whined and flushed the toilet, resting her head against the tank cover, the cool surface helping a little bit.

Amethyst hummed at the snide remark but her hand didn't stop rubbing soothing circles into Jasper's back. "Maybe, but it's always best to make sure." Her shoulders shook as she laughed. "If you did make a mess and I could have prevented it, Pearl would make me pay. She might force me to clean my room if she was really pissed."

"Clean your room?" Jasper asked, leaning back to look at Amethyst. "How is that a severe punishment?"

Laughter filled the room as Amethyst's whole body quaked. "Oh man, I forgot I never showed you my room." She calmed down and gestured to the living room. "Okay, so you know how messy it got when you dumped all your crap onto the living room table when you thought you lost your leaf thing last night?"

Jasper's eyes narrowed at the poor analogy but she nodded.

"Now take that mess, multiply it by like ten thousand and put it in a room about five times the size of the beach house."

A shudder passed through Jasper at the thought of having to clean that mess.

Amethyst grinned and nodded in approval at the look of disgust on Jasper's face. "Yep! I try but Pearl always wants me to clean up my junk." Her cheeks turned a shade darker as she scratched the back of her head. "But I mean, like Pearl would probably end up helping me with it since I'm not good at organizing and she is. I mean, she's like, really organized and can go through everything in like only a few hours." Amethyst's eyes widened and her cheeks became a deep lavender when she realized she was rambling. "Are you uh done? With puking your guts up?"

Jasper glanced back at the toilet but this time her stomach didn't squeeze at the sight of it. "I think I'm done." She stood up and walked to the sink. Jasper turned it on to splash some cold water on her face, sighing in relief when the liquid hit her clammy skin.

"Oh, try taking a quick shower!" Amethyst said suddenly, already turning on the water for the shower before Jasper could reject the suggestion. She hurried out of the bathroom and came back with a clean cup. "And drink lots of water!"

It was then that Jasper noticed that Amethyst's blush hadn't left her face and the purple gem was doing everything she could not to meet Jasper's eyes. Amethyst placed the cup on the sink's counter and without another word left the bathroom and closed the door a little too hard. The cup nearly crashed onto the floor but Jasper was able to catch it before it fell off the counter.

Jasper stared at the closed door for a little bit, the cup still in her hand. Shaking her head and muttering about strange amethysts, Jasper filled the cup with cold water and downed it in seconds. She was starting to feel better and drank another glass before placing it on the counter. Jasper closed her eyes and willed her uniform to disappear. When she opened them again, she shivered at the sudden cold biting her bare skin. Jasper entered the shower and immediately exited with a yelp. Amethyst had set it to boiling! Jasper reached in the shower and turned the nob until the water was refreshingly warm instead of scorching. She once again entered the shower and could already feel the water work out the knots Jasper acquired from sitting in front of the toilet for too long. Jasper wondered if humans had to go through this a lot. She really hoped not because she wasn't leaving the shower for quite a while and there was only one bathroom in the beach house.

As the warm water washed over Jasper's body, she couldn't help but start thinking about Lapis. Especially the way she laughed when the quartz gem had to wrestle a marshmallow bag from Amethyst and it ended up flying into the fire. Pearl had ended the contest after that. Jasper groaned and pushed her wild hair out of her face. Ever since she came back the water gem had always been on her mind, perhaps not at the forefront but always lurking. She took a bottle of shampoo and started to wash her hair, doing her best to forget about Lapis if only for a few minutes. Jasper lathered her hair, a tedious process. She considered having it cut several times now but she didn't trust any of the gems to do it without hurting her. When her hair was full of suds, Jasper stepped back under the spray, closing her eyes so that the shampoo didn't get into them, a lesson she had to learn the hard way the first time she tried to shampoo her hair. As the suds washed away, Jasper tilted her head up so she could feel the spray of warm water on her face. An errant thought of Lapis's power having the same ability took root in Jasper's mind. Jasper felt the tip of her tentacle poke out and she let out a soft whine.

"Don't think about her," she growled to herself. Think about someone else, perhaps Peridot. The quartz warrior did her best to think about the small green gem but it had the opposite effect she desired. She started imagining what it would be like for her to take a shower with the technician, having to lean down in order to touch her body. Jasper whimpered as her tentacle unsheathed even more. She bet Peridot would call her a clod but do nothing to stop Jasper from cleaning her body and playing with it afterwards. She could see it clearly in her mind, Peridot shuddering with every stroke of her fingers, her hand covering Jasper's in an unnecessary precaution to make sure Jasper wouldn't stop. She could practically hear Peridot quiet but insistent moans and whimpers as she begged her to go harder and faster.

Jasper grunted and glanced down, her tentacle fully unsheathed and lightly pulsing with her need. She reached over and turned the knob so that the water that cascaded over her body was now cold. Jasper shivered and glanced down, grimacing at how her tentacle was still exposed, the water having no effect on her. The quartz gem grumbled and turned the water's temperature to its coldest setting. Jasper trembled and continued to wash her body, making sure that she wouldn't touch her tentacle and get it more aroused.

Once her body was clean, Jasper got out of the shower, grabbing the orange towel from the towel rack. She dried herself off and glanced down, growling at how her tentacle was still on full display. "Fucking perfect," she grumbled, wiping the mirror free of the fog from the shower. The mirror was several weeks old, the crystal gems having to buy a new one to replace the one that Jasper had destroyed. The quartz gem sighed in disdain at the memory. She had just gotten out of the shower and glanced at the mirror and thinking it was the corrupted form of herself, rammed her horns into it. Only Steven and Garnet didn't mention the mirror incident to her ever. Jasper's eyes spied the price tag sticker on the bottom right of the looking glass. She knew that Pearl had deliberately left it there as a silent reminder for Jasper not to break things. At least now the writing was distorted enough that Jasper could no longer read the actual price.

Jasper's eyes went back to the image of the mirror. It was rare for the quartz gem to look at herself once she was freed from her bubble. Her eyes trailed from the horns peaking up from her beige hair, more visible now that her hair was weighed down from the water, to her luminescent orange eyes and extended claws. Jasper's lips lifted into a sneer so that her sharp canines were exposed. She still had her physical figure, tall and muscular, even for a quartz gem. Her eyes finally fell down to her pubic hair and the tentacle.

"I wonder how Peridot would react?" Jasper chuckled weakly. She imagined that the technician would be disgusted but maybe she would be intrigued. It was strange for Jasper that the thought of the small gem didn't fill her with loathing. Jasper shook her head, "Stop dreaming." But the thought wouldn't leave her be. Peridot would probably want to run a series of experiments on her or try to get Jasper to explain how it worked. Jasper would be all too eager to show the green gem exactly how it worked. Perhaps even Lapis would show Peridot how to play with it.

Jasper whimpered as her tentacle twitched, becoming fully erect and almost too painful to ignore. The quartz gem sighed and wrapped her hand around the shaft, finally giving into her needs. She gave it an experimental stroke, feeling the ridges that went up her shaft bump against the palm of her hand. A whimper forced itself out of Jasper's throat, her body unused to feeling pleasure. Her hand started an even pace as she brushed away her hair from her face with her free hand. Jasper groaned and panted, imagining Lapis and Peridot in the bathroom with her, both of their hands stroking her tentacle.

"Fuck," Jasper grunted, her hips rocking to the rhythm of her stroking. She could already feel herself getting closer and sped up her pace. Jasper gripped at the bathroom's counter as her knees threatened to buckle out from under her and sweat bead on her body. It had been far too long since she last gave into her needs. The quartz gem imagined Peridot under her, lapping at the tip of her tentacle while Lapis stroked her up and down from behind. Jasper covered her mouth with her hand to try and stifle the moans fighting to come out of her. Jasper rested her head on the mirror, opening one eye to watch what she was doing. Precum dripped out of the tip and made it easier for Jasper to stroke her tentacle.

The quartz gem growled weakly as she felt herself rise higher and higher. Jasper trembled, her hand working on her shaft. Drool started to come out of her mouth as her eyes squeezed shut. "So close, so close," Jasper whimpered, imagining Peridot and Lapis smirking at each other before redoubling both their efforts to make the quartz gem come undone.

At the last moment, Jasper grabbed her towel and wrapped it around her tentacle, humping it until she fell over the edge. "Peridot, Lapis," Jasper moaned as she emptied herself into the towel. When her tentacle twitched and sheathed itself, the quartz gem threw away the towel in disgust, feeling guilt start to claw at her.

"I just fucked myself to Peridot and Lapis," Jasper whispered to herself, disbelief in her voice that she allowed her primal instincts to take over her body. She really was weak. Jasper banished the thought and tried to phase on her clothing to no avail. After a few attempts, she realized that her mind was too hazy to complete the task. She glared at the dirty towel, blaming it for her lack of self-control.

She took a deep breath, immediately regretting it when she smelled her own arousal. Jasper tried once more to phase on her clothes before huffing in annoyance. Jasper grabbed a new towel and wrapped it around her body. She opened the door enough to glance outside. Jasper didn't hear anything move but slammed the door shut when she heard the temple door open. "Shit," she growled.

Jasper tightened the towel around herself, trying to formulate a plan. How was she going to get dressed now? She couldn't phase her clothes on and she couldn't leave. Maybe if she stayed in the bathroom for an hour, she would be level-headed enough to phase on her clothes.

"Do you need help?"

The quartz gem almost yelped in shock at Garnet's voice. How did she know she was in here? A deep blush spread across her cheeks as she realized that Garnet might know what her predicament was. Jasper gulped and rubbed the back of her neck. She opened the door slightly, just enough to see Garnet smiling knowingly at her. Damn the fusion. "Yeah, I do," Jasper admitted with a grumbled.

"Did you throw up on the floor?" Garnet asked.

Jasper hissed at the other gem. "You know damn well what I need help with!" She opened the door a little bit more so Garnet could see the blue towel she was using. Jasper felt her chest rumble with a growl at the way Garnet chuckled at her. "I can't phase my uniform on."

This time Garnet did not try to act as if she didn't know exactly what Jasper was doing. Her grin lowered into a conflicted frown. "Should we tell her?" Jasper's eyes narrowed when she noticed that the voice was slightly deeper than what Garnet's usually was. Ruby was talking. Garnet smiled again and shook her head. "No, Jasper will find out sooner or later." Jasper didn't even need to notice the soother pitch to know that Sapphire was now talking. Garnet refocused on the quartz gem in front of her. "I hope its sooner." The voice belonged to Garnet. "Wait here, I'll grab you some clothes."

Jasper waited a few moments after Garnet left to close the door. "Freaky fusion," she whispered to herself. Jasper wondered if the other gems had to deal with her bizarre behavior often.

"I heard that!" Garnet said to Jasper on the other side of the door, however the quartz gem could hear the humor in her voice.

Not even a minute later a knock was heard on the door and Jasper opened it to grab the clothing Garnet held out to her. The quartz gem was tempted to slam the door shut on the fusion's smug face but she didn't want to alert the rest of the gems. So, Jasper settled for a strained thank you that sounded more like a growl than words and the door clicking shut softly. Jasper grumbled at the faint laughter that slipped under the door as Garnet walked away. The quartz gem let her towel fall to the floor and was about to put on the shirt when her nose twitched at the scent. Jasper buried her face into the shirt and breathed deeply, grimacing when she realized whose clothing Garnet had offered to her. She tugged on the white tank top and pink boxers and grey sweatpants, which on Jasper looked more like a crop top and shorts, feeling humiliated that she was forced to wear Greg's clothes. No wonder the fusion was laughing but to Jasper all of this was a very poor joke.

Jasper left the bathroom, vowing to phase on her uniform and burn the clothes when her mind wasn't so fuzzy. She sat down on her couch and picked up Fangs of Love, frowning at the book. Jasper opened on the page she left off and tried to read it but she now knew every word that it became useless to try and lose herself in the story. She tossed the book back on the coffee table and the leaf she had been using as a bookmark fell out. Jasper reached out to grab it but a gasp made her lift her head with her arm stretched out.

Steven had woken up and was currently staring down at Jasper with stars in his eyes. He rushed out of his bed and ran down the stairs three at a time. "You're wearing human clothes!" His smile faltered as he tilted his head to one side. "Why are you wearing Dad's clothes?"

Jasper's face felt like it was on fire now and she scrambled to give an answer without telling the whole truth.

"When gems can't phase on their own uniform, it usually means they have a lot on their mind," Garnet called out. Jasper turned her head and saw that the fusion was finishing cooking something in the kitchen. Garnet turned off the stove and walked over to them with two plates stacked with pancakes. She placed both of them in front of the two and Jasper scowled at the food. The fusion was getting on her nerves.

Jasper pushed her plate towards Steven and the boy didn't waste a second before moving the pancakes onto his own plate. Jasper got up from her couch to make her own breakfast. She started to make her smoothie, having seen Pearl do it enough times that she could do it on her own if she wished. It was just easier to let the pearl do it. Jasper added a banana to her smoothie and sipped at it from one of the stools.

Garnet watched Steven devour the food for a few minutes from her spot on Jasper's couch. She didn't have to fear that the quartz gem would try and challenge her, the gem wouldn't dare as long as she never told the others about what transpired in the bathroom. The knowledge that she had leverage over Jasper made Garnet's day all the better. "Oh, Steven." Steven looked up from his quickly disappearing mountain of food. "I won't be able to take you to the arcade today."

As Garnet had saw in her future vision, the boy pouted and crossed his arms. "Why not?" Steven all but whined, giving the gem his best doggy eyes.

Usually, Garnet would have conceded and do whatever Steven wanted but she had to stay strong today. "There has been a disturbance at the Galaxy Warp and Pearl, Amethyst, and I are going to investigate." Garnet didn't technically have to go, Pearl and Amethyst would do just fine if they didn't start to bicker at one another, but she saw a possible future that was too good to pass up. She turned her head to look at Jasper who was now cleaning her cup and blender container. "You will take Steven to the arcade."

"Why?" Jasper asked, setting up the dishes to dry. When she looked back, Garnet had lowered her visors so she could see all three of her eyes. The quartz gem wanted to hiss at the smirk on the fusion's face, knowing full well that she needed to keep Garnet happy lest she had to deal with a prying amethyst and a disgusted pearl. "Fine," Jasper grumbled, "but only for an hour!"

Garnet nodded and gestured to the microwave, "There's money in there for the two of you and if you don't spend it all, you can use it later." She got up from the couch and ruffled Steven's hair before heading over to the warp pad. Light shot up from the device but before Garnet vanished, she smiled at Jasper. "Perhaps you can buy some clothes for the next time your brain gets too full." She was gone before Jasper could roar at her to mind her own business.

Steven finished his pancakes and placed the dirty dishes into the sink before smiling up at the quartz gem. "Garnet knows something," he whispered as if talking too loudly would ruin the moment.

"She knows nothing," Jasper said carefully. She opened the microwave and frowned at the wad of money there. She didn't think that arcade games were so expensive. Jasper pocketed the money in Greg's sweatpants. Steven was already bouncing up and down from his excitement, telling Jasper all sorts of games that the arcade had and which ones she would love. Today was going to be a very long day.


	13. Buddwick Public Library

Author's notes

Sorry for the long wait for the new chapter! I hope this makes it up.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN STEVEN UNIVERSE OR ITS CHARACTERS

* * *

Jasper and Steven walked down the boardwalk in silence. Jasper was glad she didn't bring the cheeseburger back pack with her, in this heat it would undoubtedly cause her to sweat uncontrollably. Besides, the quartz gem didn't need any of the medical equipment before so she probably wouldn't need it for this little endeavor. The boy was always a few feet ahead of Jasper but the quartz gem didn't mind. The space gave her a chance to look at the beach. She could still see the remains of the fire that Garnet and Greg had put together if she squinted her eyes. The sound of Steven groaning in despair made Jasper's eyes snapped to the boy.

Steven was frowning at the arcade, closed off to the public by metal roller shutters. Jasper walked over and saw that Steven was frowning at the sign taped to the metal sheet.

Arcade closed for the day! - Mr. Smiley J

The sloppy writing led Jasper to believe that Mr. Smiley may have celebrated New Year's Eve a little too much and was now paying for it. She looked down at Steven who kicked at the metal gate with a huff.

"I was going to show you Road Killer and Meat Beat Mania," Steven whined, looking longingly at the gate as if he could will it to rise up to allow them access to the arcade. He turned his head back towards Jasper. "What do you want to do today?"

Jasper was going to suggest that they just head back to the beach house but now that she was outside, the quartz gem was less inclined to go back to the stuffy temple. She thought about it for a bit and nodded to herself. "I want to get another book. Fangs of Love was horrible the first time I read it and it didn't improve much the ten times afterwards."

Steven grinned and started walking back the way they came. "I know I place with lots of books and it's a few blocks away! You'll love it." He turned his body to face Jasper and walked backwards, making sure that the quartz gem followed him.

The two continued to travel this way to the place Steven was going on about. He kept telling Jasper different names of authors or different book titles that he thought Jasper might like. The quartz gem kept an indifferent face throughout his rambling but she made a mental checklist of the authors and book titles to look for when Steven led her to wherever he was leading her.

Finally after half an hour of walking, Steven gave a joyful shout. He sprinted over to the building in front of them and slipped inside. The quartz gem frowned at the words that were displayed near the top. Buddwick Public Library. A terrible name, Jasper thought. She wasn't really impressed with the architecture, it was just a brick building with the front wall covered with windows. The two rows of hedges growing out of their stone encasement and creating a lane that led to the library did remind Jasper of the lighted pathways on the ship she had taken with Peridot. At the reminder of the ship and in consequence the green gem, Jasper shook her head and quickly headed towards the entrance, as if she could leave her thoughts outside the building.

Jasper stayed in the doorway, the glass door held out by her right hand. She couldn't stop staring at the inside of the library. There were so many books! The table displayed at the front of the library alone must hold at the very least twenty different novels, each set of books stacked in neat rows. Jasper never really put much stock into her ever-lasting life but right now she was grateful that she never aged. A sudden thought occurred to Jasper that she could just live here and spend the rest of eternity reading. She wouldn't get into any trouble and the gems wouldn't have to worry if she was ever going to run away. All Jasper needed was a fridge, bathroom, and a bed or maybe she could just use the couches in the reading center.

"Close the door! You're letting all the cool air out!"

The fantasy that Jasper was creating was crushed by the harsh voice to her left. Jasper took a step inside the library and let the door swing shut. She looked to whoever had yelled at her and saw an elderly woman glaring at her from behind her desk. Jasper blinked her eyes at the woman, the human looked like she was going to drop dead any moment and yet she yelled at Jasper like she was some child! The quartz gem was liking this library more and more. She walked over to the desk and elderly woman. The human didn't shy away from her in the slightest, in fact it seemed that she straightened her back in her little chair every step Jasper took. The human had to lean back and crane her neck up to look at Jasper but the mean glare never faltered. "What do you want?" she asked in a gruff voice.

It was official. This library was Jasper's new favorite place, not that she had many in the first place. "I want to know where the Spirit Morph Saga is," Jasper answered. Connie had tried to get Jasper to read the series numerous times before when the quartz gem complained about Fangs of Love but she never took Connie up on her offer. It would be shameful if she borrowed the books from a human but after hearing about the witch Lisa and her falcon Archimicarus, she was intrigued and knew she had to get her hands on the books somehow.

The woman gave a little annoyed grunt and typed away at the ancient computer set up next to her. Jasper could easily make out the words the old woman was muttering under her breath and each insult she threw at the quartz gem only made her want to stay in this building more. At long last a human that wasn't afraid of her! It was just too bad that the woman probably only had a few years left. Jasper wondered if Steven's healing powers could reverse time and make the old woman live longer.

"That childish series is in the back next to those god-awful vampire books." The elderly woman gave Jasper a smile but it was more of a sneer. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No," Jasper said, already heading to where the librarian had said the books where.

"A thank you would be much appreciated you doped up teenager!" the old woman yelled at her.

Jasper simply smiled to herself. Why hadn't she been shown this wonderful place before? Even the people stop reading their books in shock to stare at her didn't spoil her mood. The quartz gem found the book shelf that the series was held in and scanned all the different titles. It took her about ten minutes to find the series she wanted but she now had an entire list of books she was going to read after the series. Jasper grabbed all of the books, seven in total. She looked at the cover of the first book and grinned at the sight of the falcon. Hopefully there would be lots of fighting.

With the books safely tucked under her arm, Jasper started to search for Steven. She knew that he was most likely where the comics were but she had no idea where the comic book section was. Maybe she can ask the delightfully angry librarian. Jasper turned and took a step back to the front of the library but she must have kicked a foot ladder because she heard something crash a second later. She looked down and gulped.

What she thought was a foot ladder was actually a green gem. Peridot rubbed at her head with her eyes shut in pain. "Watch where you're going, clod!" Peridot opened her eyes to glare at the person who so rudely knocked her over but her eyes widened at the sight of the quartz gem looking down at her with her arms full of books. "Jasper!?"

Jasper grunted in a response, words failing her. She had knocked down Peridot and the gem was lying on her back, staring up at her in shock. Jasper shook her head to get rid of the sudden images that bloomed in them, all of which involved Peridot staying on her back. A part of her feared that she was going into heat. "I didn't see you," she said, her voice rougher than normal.

Peridot didn't seem to noticed the strange pitch because she got up and brushed off some imaginary dirt from her uniform. "Well you should look where you're going." She eyed the stack of books that Jasper was holding carelessly. "Are those for Steven?"

Before Jasper could answer another person that she hoped not to see for a great while walked out from between two bookshelves. Lapis was reading a magazine but she seemed to know where to go because she walked straight towards Peridot, somehow unaware that Jasper was standing right in front of her. "Hey, I found the magazine I want. We can go now unless you wanted to look for those manuals on cars." Her eyes lifted from the magazine and landed right on Jasper. "Jasper?" Unlike Peridot, Lapis's eyes focused on Jasper's clothing. "Why are you wearing Greg's clothes?"

"Nothing else would fit me," Jasper answered with a shrug, her mind scrambling to find an excuse to get away. To hell with the fact that she was supposedly the greatest quartz warrior to be ever created, all Jasper wanted to do was to leave this place and never return.

Peridot's chest puffed out and she raised her pointer finger while her other hand went behind her back. "Actually, that is incorrect. Humans have advanced far enough in their technology to create clothing in your size."

Jasper's right eye twitched when she remembered Garnet's little comment on buying new clothes. The fusion saw this occurring! She was going to make Garnet pay for trapping her in a corner like this. Jasper fought to keep calm, especially with the fragile books in her hands when she realized that she could do nothing to the fusion. Garnet had Jasper on a tight leash and they both knew that. Damn the fusion!

Jasper's attention went back to the two gems in front of her as Lapis rolled her eyes and closed her magazine. She nudged Peridot's side with a chuckle. "I'm sure Jasper doesn't want to hear about humans making clothing." She nodded towards the books in Jasper's arms, the bottom ones now boring holes where the quartz gem's claws had dug in. "You might want to stop that or the words won't be legible."

The quartz gem cursed and shifted the books so that her claws were not near the covers. Jasper looked back at the gems and noticed that they were studying her, probably trying to figure out what caused Jasper to bury her claws seemingly on accident into the books. "I didn't know that humans had clothes in my size and the fusion tricked me into wearing Greg's clothing," Jasper said half-truthfully.

"Well if you must know," Peridot began, both her arms folded behind her back as she started to explain the history of human clothing. Jasper doubted that half of what Peridot was saying was fact but hearing the green gem talk got her mind away from Garnet.

Lapis sighed and opened her magazine again, glancing up at Jasper. "You're going to get it now," she said low enough that Peridot didn't notice the water gem was speaking to Jasper. "The last time she got like this, she wouldn't stop talking for hours about a television show's characters' romances." Lapis's eyes lifted from the page she was pretending to read as she tried to recall something. "I think she called them ships."

Jasper cocked her head at the name. "Why would she name a relationship after a water vehicle?"

Lapis just shrugged and her eyes flashed back to the magazine when Peridot gave an exaggerated cough. Even though Jasper and Lapis were caught not paying attention, Lapis gave the green gem a small grin while Jasper just shifted the books again, the top one leaning a little too far to the left for her comfort.

"As I was saying," Peridot continued on her lesson and Lapis gave a whisper of a laugh. The green gem was now talking about where humans could buy clothing and even places where they pay for their clothing to be washed. Jasper didn't really listen to the words but she kept looking at Peridot like she was. Jasper noticed that Peridot would sometimes glance at Lapis or to the ceiling when she was trying to remember some fact.

Cute, Jasper thought to herself when Peridot blushed as she stumbled over the name of a particular article of clothing. Jasper's eyes sneaked their way back to Lapis who had her magazine open but her eyes were trained on Peridot instead of the page. Jasper decided that the way Lapis had a small smile like she didn't even know what her lips were doing was cute as well.

"Hey, are you even listening?"

It took a moment and Lapis's eyes lifting to look at her for Jasper to realize that Peridot had caught her not listening once again. "Yes," Jasper lied.

Peridot's eyes narrowed as her foot tapped on the ground. For a moment, Jasper connected Pearl with Peridot but threw the thought away at once. "What was I saying then?" Peridot asked.

Jasper frowned at the question and racked her brains to remember what the technician was talking about a second before. The quartz gem almost fidgeted when blue and green eyes stayed on her. "Something about humans buying clothing for special occasions," she answered at last.

Peridot continued to stare at her for a few moments before nodding her head in approval. "Correct." The green gem started talking about something else but Jasper couldn't even hope to listen to the words.

"Found you!"

Jasper was eternally grateful for the human boy. Steven hurried over to the trio, his arms full of comic books. He smiled at Lapis and Peridot. "Hi guys, how do you like the library?"

Peridot shrugged while rolling her eyes. "It's all right but there aren't a lot of books on electronics and there's nothing on meep morps." She gestured at Lapis. "She loves coming here though."

Lapis gave a noncommittal hum. "The magazines are fun to read if they have the right issues."

Steven nodded and held up the comic books he was holding. Jasper was slightly impressed that the boy was not straining or leaning forward with all the weight he was carrying. "I know how you feel, Lapis. I've been reading the same comic books series for over a year now because someone always checks out the next issue before I can read it." A devious grin spread across his face. "But now I have all the issues! All twenty-one of them!" He looked back at Jasper and noticed what books she was holding. "You're gonna read Unfamiliar Familiar!? Oh, you're so going to love it!" He shifted the comic books so he had a free hand and grabbed Jasper's arm. Steven pulled and Jasper took a step forward, nearly sending Steven to the ground with the sudden slack. He grinned at Peridot and Lapis and waved goodbye. "I'll see you two later."

Jasper and Steven went to the front desk to check out the books. Jasper looked behind her and saw Lapis bending down to whisper something into Peridot's ear. Whatever it was caused the green gem to blush madly but Jasper couldn't make out the words because Steven was rambling about how great the Spirit Morph Saga was. The two placed their stacks of books on the front desk and the elderly woman went to work checking the comic books out under Steven's name. The librarian was a quick worker, Jasper noted, but her hands faltered when they reached the bottom Jasper's stack. She picked up the book delicately and examined the holes that adorned the cover of the first book. "Who did this?" she asked, anger laced in her words.

"I did," Jasper said honestly. The librarian glared at her with so much venom that Jasper's claws instinctively lengthen in case of a fight. "I didn't do it on purpose," she explained.

"Didn't do it on purpose?" Her voice had barely concealed rage. "I've been working here for most of my life and this," she pointed a sharp nail to one of the holes, "does not happen on accident. You'll have to pay for it."

Jasper shrugged and reached down to grab the wad of cash. At least Garnet sent her here prepared. It didn't mean that she despised the fusion any less for holding the bathroom incident over her head but nonetheless, she sent Jasper with some money to pay for the damage she inevitably caused. The quartz gem handed the wad of cash over to the librarian.

The elderly woman quickly counted the money and glared at Jasper. "I only need fifteen dollars, you moron." She tossed the rest of the cash back and the quartz gem caught it without flinching.

On a whim, Jasper pushed the wad of cash back into the librarian's hands. "I want to buy all of the books. Mine and Steven's."

The librarian grabbed the wad of cash without a hint of a smile and rescanned everything. Steven frowned at the price of it all but didn't express his concern. The old woman counted the money that the two owed and gave the rest back before putting the books into plastic bags for the two to carry. Apparently the comic books and novels didn't even cost all of the money Jasper had. Jasper frowned at the money she still had. If Garnet foresaw this then why did the fusion give her so much extra.

Jasper and Steven grabbed their respective bags and left the library. Steven's hand disappeared into his bag and pulled out the first issue. He opened the first page and began reading, having walked home from the library so many times that he didn't need to look up. Besides, if Steven was about to walk into any trouble, Jasper would just hoist him up. "That was brave, you know," he said without looking up. "Margery is really mean."

"Margery?" Jasper asked, looking both ways before crossing the street with Steven. She grimaced at how Steven didn't bother looking to make sure it was safe. Perhaps she should leave a note for Pearl.

"Margery is the librarian," Steven answered with a laugh. "The first time I took Lapis to the library we almost both got banned. She was playing with some water in a vase and Margery threatened to throw her out."

Jasper gave a bored hum but her mind was working overtime. What had Lapis told to Peridot to illicit such a reaction? The quartz gem rubbed at the back of her neck at the abrupt fear that Garnet had somehow informed them of what Jasper did in the bathroom. Jasper cursed the idea but it still loomed over her like the sky. The closer Steven and she got to the temple, the more Jasper convinced herself that Garnet had ratted her out to the two gems.

After walking for half an hour, Steven engrossed in his comic book and Jasper absorbed in her own mind, the temple grew from the horizon. Jasper could just make out a figure leaning against the railing of the porch and with a sinking feeling, realized it was Garnet. The fusion did not make any move to greet the two as they headed towards the beach house. Steven finished the first issue and made a noise that was in between a gasp of surprise and a laugh of delight. The boy ran up the stairs ahead of Jasper and the quartz gem could hear him talk about his new comic books and how Jasper was nice enough to buy them for him.

For the most part, Garnet didn't show any reaction asides a small lift of her lips and an occasional hum. When Steven was finished speaking, Garnet ruffled his hair. "Make sure you put them away where Amethyst can't find them. You might not see them ever again," she warned.

Steven gave a grunt and a nod before hurrying inside the house. At this point Jasper had reached the top of the stairs and had just opened the door to let herself in.

"How is Lapis and Peridot?" Garnet asked, her back still turned towards Jasper.  
A dangerous hiss came out of Jasper's mouth as her hand tightened on the doorframe, her claws just barely scratching the surface.

Garnet only chuckled, a hand lifting to push up her visors. "Just wanted to make sure they were fine."

Jasper entered the house, the words, "Freaky fusion," slipping from her mouth dripping in venom. Damn the fusion.

* * *

Author's notes

I love Garnet sass in the show. There is no way Steven did not show Lapis the library. Also normal libraries may have resident cats or even a dog or two. Beach City has a resident Jasper.


End file.
